1754  -  A  Colonial  Officer  - 1773 


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Alfred  Moore  Waddell 


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NORTH  CAROLINA 


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A  COLONIAL  OFFICER  AND  HIS  TIMES, 

1754-1773. 


A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


GEN.   HUGH   WADDELL, 


NORTH  CAROLINA. 


WITH   NOTICES   OF    THE    FRENCH   AND     INDIAN    WAR    IN    THE 
SOUTHERN    COLONIES  ;   THE   RESISTANCE   TO   THE  STAMP 
ACT  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA    (wiTH  COPIES  OF  ORIGI- 
NAL DOCUMENTS  NEVER  BEFORE  PUBLISHED)  ; 
THE  REGULATORS'  WAR  ;     AND   AN   HIS- 
TORICAL  SKETCH   OF  THE   FORMER 
TOWN    OF   BRUNSWICK,  ON  THE 
CAPE      FEAR      RIVER. 


BY 

ALFRED  MOORE  WADDELL. 


RALEIGH,  N.  C: 

Edwards  &  Broughton,    Publishers. 

i8qo. 


Copyright  1885  by  A.  M.  Waddell. 


4  £-L^-t  .f^lirtr^i^' 


^in4f\^ 


--fer-/^^<^^  ^  ^'-"^  '^ 


/^  4  J:^ 


^.^c_(l_ 


TO  THE  MEMORY 

OF 

MV   GOOD   AND   GIFTED    FATHER,    WHO    BORE,    WITH    ADDED 
HONORS,  THE  NAME 

HUGH  WADDELL, 

THESE   PAGES  ARE    REVERENTLY   DEDICATED. 


[From  Gov.  Tryon's  Letter-Book.] 

No.  59. 

Lord  HilLvSborough  : 

NewbERN,  28th  January,  1771. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Heron  and  Mr.  Eustace 
McCulloh's  resignation  of  his  seat  in  Council, 
making  two  vacancies  in  his  Majest3^'s  Coun- 
cil of  this  Province,  I  take  the  liberty  to  recom- 
mend for  the  King's  nomination  the  three* 
following  gentlemen  as  properly  qualified  to 
sit  at  that  Board,  viz :  Colonel  Hugh  Waddell, 
Mr.  Marmaduke  Jones,  and  Sir  Nathaniel 
Dukinfield. 

Colonel  Waddell  had  the  honor  to  see  3-our 
Lordship  about  two  years  since  in  Kngland. 
He  honorabl}^  distinguished  himself  last  war 
while  he  commanded  the  provincials  of  this 
Province  against  the  Cherokee  Indians,  pos- 
sesses an  easy  fortune,  and  is  in  much  esteem 
as  a  gentleman  of  honor  and  spirit.    '•'     '•'     '•' 


*NoTE  BY  THE  Author. — In  all  cases  of  vacancy  in  the 
Council,  three  names  were  forwarded  from  which  a  selection 
was  made. 


PREFACE. 

To  any  one  in  possession  of  material,  how- 
ever small,  which,  if  published,  would  prove  to 
be  of  historical  value,  the  exhortation  of  Car- 
lyle,  "Were  it  but  the  infinitessimalest  frac- 
tion of  a  product,  produce  it,"  nia}^  well  be 
addressed;  and  to  none  with  more  propriety 
than  to  a  North  Carolinian.  The  meagreness 
of  the  early  public  records  of  North  Carolina, 
and  the  carelessness  with  which  the  history  of 
the  State  has  been  written,  have  long  been 
complained  of  b}-  the  historians  of  the  United 
States,  and  have  caused  almost  every  notable 
and  creditable  event  in  that  history'  to  be 
doubted  or  denied.  Nor  has  this  neglect  been 
remedied  by  biographical  literature,  for — ex- 
cepting McRee's  "Life  and  Correspondence  of 
James  Iredell,"  Caruthers's  "Life  of  Cald- 
well," and  Hubbard's  "  Life  of  General  Wil- 
liam R.  Davie" — no  volume  aspiring  to  the 
title  of  a  biography  has  ever  been  published  of 
a   North    Carolinian,  as    such.     The    lives  of 


6  PREFACE. 

some  natives  of  the  State — the  three  Presidents^ 
Jackson,  Polk  and  Johnson,  for  example — have 
been  written,  but  these  lives  were  passed  out 
of  the  State,  and  were  not  identified  with  her 
history.  We  are  almost  as  destitute  of  that 
sort  of  literature  concerning  our  distinguished 
dead  as  we  are  of  statues  or  monuments  to 
their  memor3^  The  volumes  of  Colonial 
Records,  recently  obtained  in  England  under 
an  Act  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  now 
being  published  under  the  intelligent  super- 
vision of  Secretary  of  State  Saunders,  will 
supply  the  long-desired  material,  and  will, 
doubtless,  stimulate  some  student  to  the  patri- 
otic task  of  writing  a  history  which  will  be 
worthy  of  the  State. 

This  little  book,  which  is  intended  for  North 
Carolina  readers,  and  cannot  be  expected  to 
have  much  circulation  beyond  tlie  limits  of  the 
State,  is  accurate,  if  nothing  else;  and,  while 
purporting  to  be  merely  a  very  imperfect 
biographical  sketch  of  General  Hugh  Waddell, 
gives  some  information  in  regard  to  men  and 


PREFACE.  7 

events  in  the  Colony  between  the  years  1754 
and  1773  which  is  not  familiar  to  most  readers. 

A  sense  of  duty,  stimulated  by  the  expres- 
sions of  regret  in  which  several  writers  have 
indulged,  that  no  sketch  of  General  Waddell 
had  ever  appeared,  prompted  me  to  undertake 
it,  notwithstanding  the  difficulties  to  be  en- 
countered. 

There  was  ample  material  for  his  biography 
in  his  letters,  papers,  and  official  correspond- 
ence, which  had  been  carefully  preserved  by 
his  son,  and  which  would  have  thrown  light 
on  the  events  occurring  in  the  Province  and 
elsewhere  during  the  interesting  period  in 
which  he  lived,  but  the  very  means  adopted 
to  give  value  to  this  material  resulted  in  a  total 
loss  of  it.  His  son  loaned  it  to  Dr.  Hugh 
Williamson,  who  had  been  a  member  of  Con- 
gress before,  at  the  time  of,  and  subsequent  to 
the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  and 
who  was  then  (about  the  year  1800)  writing  a 
history  of  North  Carolina  in  New  York ;  but 
although  the  most  strenuous  efforts  were  made 
to  recover  the  papers  after  Dr.  Williamson's 


8  PREFACE. 

death  in  1819,  they  could  not  be  found,  and  all 
trace  of  them  was  lost.  He  not  only  failed  to 
preserve  and  return  them,  as  he  promised  to 
do,  but  made  very  little  use  of  them  in  his  two 
queer  and  unsatisfactor}'  volumes. 

Dr.  Williamson,  although  a  man  of  culture 
and  integrity,  was  ver}^  careless  and  eccentric, 
as  his  whole  career  proves,  and  while  his  his- 
tory contains  some  facts  not  elsewhere  to  be 
found,  and  is  marked  in  some  passages  by 
vigor  and  elegance  of  style,  he  betrays  his 
Keltic  origin  in  the  climax,  and  concludes  his 
work  by  a  long,  elaborate,  and  utterly  irrele- 
vant dissertation  on  fevers. 

Alfred  Moore  Waddell. 

Wilmington,  N.  C, 
January,  18.S9. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Preface 5 

lutroductory  11 

Letter  of  Tryou  to  Lord  Hillsborough 4 

CHAPTER  L 

1754—1757. 

GENERAL  HUGH  WADDELL. 
Born  in  Ireland — His  Father's  Duel  and  Flight  to  America — 
Arrival  of  Young  Waddell  in  America — Enters  Military 
Service  as  Lieutenant  in  1754 — Makes  Treaties  with  Indians 
and  Builds  Fort  Dobbs — Military  Service  from  1754  to 
1758  —A  Vindication  of  Colonel  James  Innes  and  the  North 
Carolina  Troops  in  the  Campaign  of  1754 25 

CHAPTER  II. 

1758— 1764. 

Forbes's  Expedition  to  F'ort  Du  Quesne — Major  Waddell  Com- 
mands the  North  Carolina  Troops — Sergeant  John  Rogers — 
Return  of  North  Carolina  Troops  and  Expedition  Against 
the  Cherokees — Waddell  Promoted  to  Colonelcy — Peace 
Declared — End  of  Dobbs's  Administration — Notice  of  the 
Dobbs  Family 55 

CHAPTER    III. 

1765- 

Tryon  Becomes  Governor — His  Character  and  Conduct — The 
Stamp  Act — Arrival  of  Sloop  of  War  Diligence  at  Bruns- 
wick— Colonel  W^addell,  with  Colonel  Ashe  and  others, 
Resists  the  Landing  of  the  Stamps 73 


lO  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1768 — 1771. 

The  Regulators'  War — Its  Origin  and  History — General  Wad- 
dell's  Connection  with  it 130 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Social  Life  of  the  Colony— Marriage  of  General  Waddell— 
His  Civil  Services — Family — Death — Will — Conclusion  of 
Biography 181 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Historical  Sketch  of  Former  Town  of  Brunswick 204 

Appendix 235 


NTRODUCTORY. 


The  American  Colonies  in  the  Early  Part  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century— Their  Trade,  Population  and  Government— The 
French  War — Settlements  in  North  Carolina — Condition 
of  the  Province  at  the  Beginning  of  Dobbs's  Administra- 
tion in  1754. 

The  contest  between  European  powers  for 
supremacy  iu  America,  which  began  with  the 
first  settlements  in  the  country,  did  not  assume 
serious  proportions  until  towards  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  centurj^,  when  the  increasing 
trade  and  population  of  the  New  World  and  the 
vast  possibilities  which  its  future  promised, 
attracted  the  attention  and  excited  the  cupidity 
of  those  powers.  In  the  year  1755,  the  strug- 
gle between  France  and  England,  which, 
because  of  the  exhaustion  of  both  parties,  had 
temporarily  ceased  with  the  Treat\^  of  Peace 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  1748,  was  renewed  b}^ 
France  with  increased  vigor,  not  only  in 
Europe,  but  also  in  India  and  America.  On 
this  continent  she  claimed  the  valleys  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi,  and  under- 
took to  hem  in  all  the  English  settlements  by 
a  series  of  fortifications,  and  to  den\'  to  the 
settlers  the  right  to  cross  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tians.      In    pursuance    of  her   purpose,   after 


12  INTRODUCTORY. 

securing  the  Northern  frontier  by  a  chain  of 
posts  extending  from  Canada  along  the  lakes 
and  rivers  to  the  back  of  those  settlements, 
she  had,  as  early  as  the  month  of  January, 
1753,  seized  an  English  truck-house  in  the 
Twigtwees  nation,  and  carried  the  traders  as 
prisoners  to  Canada ;  and  in  the  latter,  part  of 
that  year  she  built  Fort  Du  Quesne  on  the 
Ohio,  and  erected  another  fortification  on  the 
headwaters  of  the  Alabama  river — meantime 
practicing  the  shrewdest  diplomacy  in  concili- 
ating and  making  treaties  with  all  the  Indian 
tribes  from  Canada  to  Louisiana.  A  new  life 
seemed  to  be  infused  into  the  administration 
of  French  interests  at  home  and  abroad,  while 
the  condition  of  England  was,  for  once  in  her 
history,  well-nigh  pitiable.  Imbecility  marked 
her  counsels,  and  disaster  followed  her  arms. 
After  the  miserable  failure  of  Braddock's  expe- 
dition against  Fort  Du  Quesne  in  1755,  which 
even  the  butchery  in  w^hich  it  ended  could 
scarcely  save  from  universal  ridicule,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  year,  when  the  alliance  between 
England  and  Prussia  was  made,  there  were, 
according  to  a  reliable  authorit}^,'-'  but  three 

*Newcastle's  "preparations  for  the  great  struggle  before 
him  may  be  guessed,  from  the  fact  that  there  were  but  three 
regiments  fit  for  service  in  England  at  the  beginning  of  1756.'' 
Green's  Short  History,  page  716. 


ixTRonrcTORv.  13 

regiments  fit  for  service  in  England.  The 
following  two  years,  the  first  of  the  Seven 
Years'  War — than  which  "  no  war  has  had 
greater  resnlts  on  the  history  of  the  world,  or 
bronght  greater  triumphs  to  England" — were 
so  freighted  with  disaster  to  her  that  universal 
gloom  and  despondenc}-  prevailed.  She  was 
humiliated  by  Admiral  Byng's  defeat  by  Ad- 
miral Galissoniere  in  the  Mediterranean,  by 
the  shameful  retreat  of  the  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land with  an  army  of  fift}-  thousand  men  before 
a  French  force  on  the  Weser,  and  his  agree- 
ment by  the  Convention  of  Closter-Seven  to 
disband  his  forces,  and  b}^  similar  events  else- 
where, until  "even  the  impassive  Chesterfield," 
says  the  authority  above  quoted,  cried  in  despair, 
"We  are  no  longer  a  nation." 

It  was  at  this  critical  period  that  the  genius 
of  the  greatest  of  English  statesmen,  William 
Pitt,  asserted  itself,  and  immediately  a  series 
of  the  most  splendid  triumphs  in  English  his- 
tory began.  Frederick  the  Great  said,  "Eng- 
land has  been  a  long  time  in  labor,  but  she 
has  at  last  brought  forth  a  man."  Well  might 
he  say  it,  for  Pitt  was  his  mainstay  through 
all  his  struggles,  and  the  support  he  gave  to 


14  INTRODUCTORY. 

Prussia  led  to  the  creation  of  the  German  Em- 
pire of  to-day,  just  as  his  breaking  down  of 
the  barriers  which  the  French  sought  to  estab- 
lish in  America  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
United  States.  In  this  way  Pitt  had,  indeed, 
^'unconsciousl}'  changed  the  histor}^  of  the 
world." 

Previous  to  this  time  the  American  Colonies, 
in  the  South  especiall}-,  had  suffered  from 
Indian  wars,  from  pirates,  and  from  the  Span- 
iards, who  often  threatened  and  sometimes 
attacked  the  coast  towns. 

For  a  century  Spain  had  maintained  a  sickly 
show  of  authority  in  Florida,  where  she  had 
erected  one  or  two  forts  which  were  occupied 
by  a  small  force,  but  had  made  no  attempt  at 
any  further  occupation  of  the  territory,  or 
development  of  its  resources. 

The  jurisdiction  over  the  West  Indies  was 
divided.  France  held  Canada,  Acadia  (or 
Nova  Scotia)  and  Louisiana.  In  the  two  first 
named  the  population  was,  in  1754,  about 
seventy  thousand,  and  in  the  latter  territory 
about  ten  thousand.  The  English  held  the 
territory  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  from  Canada 
to  Georgia,  and  numbered  at  the  same  time 
about  one  million  one  hundred  and  sixty  thou- 


INTRODUCTORY.  1 5 

sand.'-"'  The}'  afterwards  acquired  Canada  and 
Nova  Scotia. 

The  governments  in  the  English  Colonies 
differed  in  name  more  than  in  character.  Some 
were  called  Provincial,  some  Proprietary,  and 
some  Charter  governments,  but  all  were  ulti- 
mately accountable  to  the  Crown.  These 
Colonies  soon  became  very  valuable  as  sources 
of  revenue  to  Great  Britain. 

Before  the  middle  of  the  century  they  were 
consuming  about  one-fifth  of  the  woollen  manu- 
factures of  the  mother  country — which  consti- 
tuted at  that  time  her  chief  staple — and  more 
than  twice  the  value  of  these  woollens  in  linen 
and  calico,  while  the  consumption  of  silk, 
furniture,  trinkets,  and  East  India  goods  was 
large.  (In  this  connection  it  may  be  of  inter- 
est to  state  that  as  earl 3^  as  17 16,  according  to 
a  memorial  of  Mr.  Beresford  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Trade  and  Plantations,  silk  culture 
had  been  tried  in  South  Carolina,  and  the 
product  had  been  sent  to  London  where  it  was 
manufactured,  "and  proves  to  be  of  extraordi- 
nar}'  substance  and  lustre.")  They  sent  her 
valuable  cargoes,  especially  of  tobacco,  which 
increased  her  shipping,  gave  employment  to 

*Montcahn  and  Wolfe,  by  Francis  Parkman.   Vol.  I,  page  20, 

(1885). 


l6  INTRODUCTORY. 

her  people,  and  aided  materially  in  keeping 
the  balance  of  trade  in  her  favor  as  against 
Holland,  Portugal  and  Spain.  Except  as  a 
barrier  against  the  French  in  Canada,  the 
acquisition  of  Nova  Scotia  was  not  a  valuable 
one  to  England,  as  the  products  of  that  terri- 
tory did  not  add  to  the  resources  of  the  latter, 
like  those  of  the  other  Colonies. 

Massachusetts  did  a  larger  and  a  more  varied 
trade  than  any  of  them,  and  was  the  only 
Colony  in  which  manufactures  were  carried 
on  to  any  extent.  The  other  Northern  Colo- 
nies exported,  principall}^,  lumber,  fish,  live 
stock,  and  some  naval  stores,  while  the  South- 
ern Colonies  shipped  tobacco,  rice,  beef,  pork, 
provisions,  naval  stores  and  lumber — the  last 
named  product  going,  as  did  the  lumber  and 
live  stock  of  the  Northern  Colonies,  chiefly  to 
the  West  Indies.  In  Mr.  Beresford's  "  IMe- 
morial,"  above  alluded  to,  occurs  the  following: 
"There  are  also  great  quantities  of  cedar  and 
cypress,  far  exceeding  any  Norway  deals,  being 
free  from  knots,  of  curious  white  color,  great 
lengths,  proper  for  flooring  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent buildings.  The  cedar  for  some  uses 
far  exceeds  any  other  sort  of  wood,  and,  at  the 
request  of  some  noblemen  and  gentlemen  of 
this  nation,  hath  been  brought  into  this  king- 


INTRODUCTORY.  1/ 

dom,  but  the  importers  being  obliged  to  payr 
duty  for  it  as  szveet  ivood,  amounts  to  a  pro- 
hibition."  (The  italics  are  not  Mr.  Beresford's.) 

Outside  of  New  England — where  almost 
from  the  first  settlement  it  had  been  enacted 
that  ''ever}^  township,  after  the  Lord  hath 
increased  them  to  the  number  of  fifty  house- 
holders, shall  appoint  one  to  teach  all  children 
to  write  and  read;  and  when  any  town  shall 
increase  to  the  number  of  a  hundred  families, 
they  shall  set  up  a  grammar  school" — there 
were  very  few  schools  in  the  country,  even  of 
the  most  elementary  kind,  and  not  a  half  dozen 
newspapers.  The  wealthier  class  sent  their 
sons  to  England  to  be  educated,  while  the 
poorer  were  either  destitute  of  knowledge,  or 
possessed  onl}-  such  as  could  be  obtained  at 
their  own  firesides.  Agriculture,  trade — which 
was  largely  in  the  form  of  barter — and  fighting 
the  Indians,  occupied  the  attention  of  the  peo- 
ple— of  the  Southern  Colonies  especiall}^ — 
almost  exclusivel3\ 

In  the  Province  of  North  Carolina  the  Pro- 
prietary Government,  which  was  established 
in  1663,  ended  in  1728  when  the  Crown  pur- 
chased the  interest  of  seven  of  the  eight  Pro- 
prietors— Lord  Carteret  retaining  his  share — 
and  on  the  2d  July,  1.752,  when  Georgia  was 
2 


iS  INTRODUCTORY. 

surrendered  by  her  Trustees  to  the  King,  there 
were  onl^-  two  Proprietary  Governments  left 
in  the  country,  viz.,  Maryland  and  Penns3'l- 
vania,  and  some  of  the  Roj^al  Governors  were 
anxious  to  see  these  surrendered.''' 

All  the  Southern  Colonies  were  in  a  defence- 
less condition,  both  as  to  their  Western  frontiers 
and  their  sea-ports.  The  two  Carolinas — 
which  were  iioniinaUv  separated  in  September, 
1720,  when  Sir  Francis  Nicholson  was  com- 
missioned 7-oyaI  Governor  of  South  Carolina, 
although  no  boundary  line  had  then  been  even 
commenced  between  them — and  the  Province 
of  Georgia  were  exposed  to  attacks  from  the 
French  and  Indians  of  the  Mississippi  river 
settlements,  who,  before  1735,  had  built  what 
was  called  the  Alabama  fort  in  the  Creek 
nation,  and  had  fully  garrisoned  and  mounted 
it  with  fourteen  pieces  of  artillery,  and  later 
had  attempted  to  build  another  fort  nearer 
these  English  settlements. 

The  Creeks  were  quite  numerous  and  were 
among  the  most  formidable  of  the  tribes  of  the 
South,  as  were  also  the  Choctaws  and  Chicka- 
saws.  The  Cherokees,  Catawbas,  and  other 
tribes  occupied  the  territory  between  them  and 

*Dinwiddie  Papers.     Vol.  II,  page  273. 


INTRODITCTORY.  1 9 

the  English  settlements,  and  were  not  so  war- 
like in  disposition,  although  as  cunning  and 
merciless  when  roused. 

In  Florida  the  Spaniards  had  now  several 
strone  o-arrisons,  the  chief  of  which  was  St. 
Augustine,  and  they  controlled  the  Indians  of 
that  territory. 

While  they  claimed  jurisdiction  over  a  much 
larger  area  than  was  in  their  actual  possession, 
the}^  were  not  as  active  and  enterprising  in 
pushing  their  claims,  and  in  making  alliances 
with  the  Indians  as  the  French,  who,  after  the 
Mississippi  Company  surrendered  their  coun- 
try to  the  French  King,  migrated  from  Canada 
in  considerable  numbers  to  the  valley  of  that 
river,  and  acquired  complete  control  of  all  the 
Indians  in  that  region. 

In  1 74 1  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  against 
the  Spaniards  at  Carthagena,  on  the  coast  of 
New  Grenada,  near  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  to 
which  North  Carolina  contributed  a  force, 
under  Captain  James  Innes,  but,  after  a  siege 
which  proved  unsuccessful,  the  forces  were 
re-embarked  on  Admiral  Vernon's  fleet  and 
returned.  In  retaliation  the  Spaniards,  several 
years  after,  made  forays  along  the  coast,  attack- 
ing different  places,  and  amongst  others  the 
town  of  Brunswick  on  the  Cape  Fear  river, 
eighteen  miles  below  Wilmington. 


20  INTRODUCTORY. 

The  population  of  these  Provinces  was  sparse, 
and  scattered  chiefly  along  the  coast  belt,  but 
notwithstanding  the  serious  injury  to  their 
prosperity  which  external  foes  thus  inflicted, 
and  the  additional  embarrassments  caused  by 
the  corrupt  and  ineflicient  government  from 
which  some  of  them  suffered,  there  was  a  steady 
increase  of  population  and  trade. 

In  North  Carolina,  during  the  administra- 
tion of  Governor  Gabriel  Johnston,  who,  at  the 
time  of  his  death  in  1752,  had  been  Governor 
for  eighteen  years,  the  white  population  had 
increased  more  than  three-fold,  and  at  the  date 
above  mentioned  had  reached  fort3^-five  thou- 
sand. The  exports  for  the  3'ear  1752  were 
three  thousand  and  three  hundred  barrels  of 
pork  and  beef,  seven  hundred  and  sixt3^-two 
thousand  staves,  sixty-one  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  eighty  bushels  of  corn,  one  hundred 
hogsheads  of  tobacco,  sixty-one  thousand  five 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  barrels  of  tar,  twelve 
thousand  and  fifty-five  barrels  of  pitch,  ten 
thousand  four  hundred  and  twent3^-nine  bar- 
rels of  turpentine,  and  thirt3'-thousand  pounds 
of  deer-skins,  besides  an  unknown  quantit3^  of 
wheat,  rice,  potatoes,  bacon,  lard,  indigo,  tanned 
leather,  lumber  and  other  articles.''' 

*Martin.     Vol.  II,  59.     Seeposi.,  Ch.  VI,  217. 


TNTRODI^CTORY.  21 

The  currency,  tliat  perpetual  source  of 
trouble,  had,  during-  the  same  period,  steadily 
risen  towards  its  proper  value.'''  Immigration 
had  set  in  from  Scotland,  Ireland  and  Ger- 
many, and  from  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia; 
and  these  settlers  had  located  themselves  from 
the  coast  to  that  part  of  the  country  of  the 
Cherokees  and  Catawbas  east  of  the  Bhie 
Ridge.  Neill  McNeill  brought  five  or  six 
hundred  Scotch  colonists,  landing  in  Wil- 
mington in  1749,  and  settling  in  Bladen, 
Cumberland  and  Anson  ;  and  again  in  1754, 
and  annually  thereafter,  additions  were  re- 
ceived to  this  Colou}^  from  Scotland.  In  1753 
the  Moravians,  known  as  the  Uuitas  Fratntm^ 
made  their  settlement  between  the  Dan  and 
Yadkin,  and  the  emigration  from  the  North  of 
Ireland  to  Pennsylvania,  and  thence  to  North 
Carolina,  as  well  as  directl}'  to  the  latter,  was 
active  about  the  same  time. 

Although  a  boundar^^  line  had  been  com- 
menced between  North  and  South  Carolina — 
as  had  been  done  in  1727  between  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina,  and  had  extended  to  a 
point  on  the  Pee  Dee  river,  which  was  extended 
a  few  miles  further  in  1764,  the  territory'  west 

*Williamson.     Vol.  II,  page  55. 


22  IN'TRODUCTOkV. 

of  tlie  Pee  Dee  was  for  many  years  debatable 
ground  so  far  as  jurisdiction  was  concerned^ 
although  it  really  belonged  to  the  Catawba  and 
Cherokee  Indians.  These  Catawbas  and  Chero- 
kees  were  not  hostile  to  the  English  settlers 
until  tampered  with  by  the  French,  but  were 
rather  friendly  disposed  to  them. 

About  the  beginning  of  Dobbs's  administra- 
tion in  1754,  however,  after  the  French  had 
built  Fort  Du  Ouesne,  and  scattered  their 
emissaries  among  them,  they  began  to  cause 
apprehension  to  the  settlers  on  the  Western 
frontiers.  In  the  same  year  an  attempted 
settlement  in  that  part  of  the  territory  beyond 
the  Blue  Ridge — which  was  called  in  1776,  the 
District  of  Washington,  in  17S4  the  State  of 
Franklin,  aud,  iinall}',  in  1796  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  was  defeated  aud  the  settlers  were 
driven  out.  In  1756,  Fort  Loudon,  named  for 
the  new  British  commander-in-chief,  the  Earl 
of  Loudon,  was  built  about  thirty  miles  from 
the  present  city  of  Knoxville,  and  a  small  per- 
manent settlement  w^as  made,  zvliich  was  the 
first  Aui^lo-Amcricwi  settlement  zvest  0/  the 
Alleghanies  and  south  of  Penusylvania. 

The  Earl  of  Loudon  had  not  been  able,  for 
several  reasons,  to  accomplish  much,  and  he 
was  succeeded  in  the  command  of  the    British 


INTRODUCTORY.  23 

forces  by  General  Abercrombie,  who  began 
and  prosecnted  a  vigorons  campaign  against 
the  French.  He  was  repnlsed  at  Ticonderoga 
bnt  captured  Cape  Breton  and  afterwards  Fort 
Frontenac.  i\t  the  latter  place  the  great  loss 
of  ammunition  and  provisions  which  the  French 
had  accumulated  there  for  use  on  the  Ohio, 
caused  the  abandonment  of  Fort  Du  Ouesne 
when  Forbes's  expedition  approached  that 
stronghold  in  1758,  and  the  communication 
between  their  Southern  settlements  and  Canada 
being  thus  destroj^ed,  their  power  on  this  con- 
tinent was  broken.  But,  although  North  Caro- 
lina had  contributed  to  the  expulsion  of  the 
French  from  Fort  Du  Quesne,  it  was  onl^'  to 
aggravate  her  own  troubles,  for  it  resulted  in 
transferring  French  influence  and  intrigue  to 
the  Cherokees  on  her  Western  border  and 
kindling  anew  their  animosit}^  which  had  been 
quieted  by  treaties  and  acts  of  conciliation. 
The  result  was  a  series  of  outbreaks  which 
lasted  for  more  than  two  years,  and  which  did 
not  leave  the  settlers  in  North  Carolina  in  a 
state  of  absolute  security  until  the  treaty  of 
peace  between  France  and  England  was  made 
in  1763.  Very  soon  after  that  event,  in  1765, 
the  first  rumble  of  the  earthquake  which  was 
to  rend  the   British   Empire  and  separate  for- 


24  INTRODUCTORY. 

ever  the  Colonies  from  the  mother  countr}', 
was  heard  in  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act; 
and  ten  3^ears  later  the  great  convnlsion 
occurred  which  established  American  Inde- 
pendence. 

The  subject  of  the  following  sketch  was, 
from  1755  to  1773,  the  most  conspicuous  mili- 
tar}^  figure  in  the  Province  of  North  Carolina, 
but  although  mentioned  as  such  in  all  the 
histories,  no  connected  account  of  his  life  and 
public  services  has  ever  been  written. 


CHAPTER  I. 


■  1754-1757. 
GENERAL  HUGH  WADDELL. 

Born  ill  Ireland— His  Father's  Duel  and  Flight  to  America- 
Arrival  of  young  Waddell  in  North  Carolina— Enters  the 
Military  Service  as  Lieutenant  in  1754— Makes  Treaties 
with  Indians  and  Builds  Fort  Dobbs— Military  Services 
from  1754  to  1758 — A  Vindication  of  Colonel  James  Innes. 
and  the  North  Carolina  Troops. 

HUGH  WADDELL  was  born  in  Lisbnrn, 
Connty  Down,  Ireland.  The  exact  date 
of  his  birth  is  nnknown,  but,  as  it  appears  from 
a  memorandum  written  by  his  son,  and  from 
a  newspaper  account  of  his  death,  that  he  was 
in  his  39th  year  when  he  died,  April  9th,  1773, 
he  must  have  been  born  in  the  year  1734  or 
early  in  1735.  He  was  the  son  of  Hugh  Wad- 
dell and  Isabella  Brown,  and  his  ancestors 
were  among  the  Scotch  emigrants  who,  in 
the  previous  century,  had  gone  over  in  large 
numbers  and  settled  in  the  North  of  Ireland, 
and  whose  descendants  in  this  country  were 
called  Scotch-Irish.  The  celebrated  ''blind 
preacher"  of  Virginia,  James  Waddell,  who 
was  pronounced  by  Patrick  Henry  to  be  the 

3 


26  A  Colonial  Officer 

most  eloquent  man  he  ever  heard,  came  with 
his  parents  to  America  from  the  North  of  Ire- 
land not  long  before  General  Waddell  came, 
and  is  believed  to  have  been  his  near  relative. 
A  highly  respected  family  of  the  same  name 
are  now  residing  at  Lisbnrn. 

General  Waddell's  father,  who  was  a  choleric 
Irish  gentleman,  about  the  year  1742  engaged 
in  a  short-sword  impromptu  duel  with  another 
gentleman  of  like  accommodating  spirit  and 
killed  him;  and  such  events  having  at  that 
time  become  so  scandalously  common  in  that 
country  as  to  have  caused  the  severest  enact- 
ments against  the  survivor,  the  duelist,  after 
sending  for  a  counsellor  and  mortgaging  (as 
he  supposed)  all  his  property  to  him,  took  his 
little  boy,  then  seven  or  eight  years  old,  and 
escaped  to  America,  going  to  Boston. 

Remaining  there  for  several  years,  and  until 
the  duelling  affair  was  pardoned  or  forgotten, 
and  in  the  meantime  providing  for  the  educa- 
tion of  his  son,  he  returned  with  him  to  Ireland, 
only  to  discover  that  the  counsellor  was  dead 
and  that  the  estate,  supposed  to  have  been 
mortgaged,  had  been  conveyed  absolutely  and 
had  passed  into  other  hands.  The  authority 
for  these  facts,  which  is  a  family  tradition, 
further  says  that  the  counsellor  was  a  relative 


And  His  TniKvS.  27 

of  the  too  confiding  duelist,  and  that  the  latter 
was  so  utterly  humiliated  and  overwhelmed  by 
the  double  catastrophe  that  he  took  to  his  bed 
and  died.  There  is  an  Irish  flavor  about  the 
tradition  which  gives  it  the  stamp  of  truth. 

Among  the  friends  of  the  elder  Waddell  in 
Ireland  was  Arthur  Dobbs,  a  man  of  consid- 
erable culture,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Irish  Parliament,  and  who,  in  1741,  had  sug- 
gested the  expedition  to  discover  a  "  northwest 
passage,"  which  Captain  Tvliddleton  undertook 
the  next  year.  Partly  because  of  his  supposed 
enterprising  spirit,  but  chiefly,  probably,  be- 
cause of  his  super-serviceable  loyalty  to  the 
reigning  family  and  his  extravagant  notions 
of  the  kingly  prerogative,  Dobbs  was,  in  1753, 
appointed  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  and 
qualified  by  taking  the  oaths  of  oflice  at  Newbern 
on  the  first  day  of  November,  1754.  Whether 
he  had  been  in  the  Province  previous  to  his 
appointment  as  Governor,  or  not,  does  not 
appear,  but  he  had,  as  early  as  January  14th, 
1735,  received  from  Governor  Gabriel  Johnston 
a  grant  for  6,000  acres  on  the  "  Largest  Branch 
of  Black  River,"  in  Dupplin='  County  (com- 
monly spelled  Duplin),  and  had  purchased 
lands  in  Anson  County  from  McCuUoch. 


*So  named  in  honor  of  Lord  Dupplin. 


28  A  Colonial  Officer 

Before  Governor  Dobbs  came  over  to  assume 
his  office,  young  Waddell  had  arrived  in  the 
Province,  having,  doubtless,  been  sent  in 
advance,  and  arriving  in  1753  or  early  in  1754. 
He  was  a  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  James  Innes' 
regiment  which  went  to  Virginia  in  the  spring 
of  1754 — a  full  account  of  which  will  presently 
be  given — and  was  made  a  Captain  there/-'  This 
was  during  the  administration  of  Matthew 
Rowan,  President  of  the  Council,  who  was 
acting  Governor  until  the  arrival  of  Dobbs, 
and  was  the  first  appearance  of  Waddell  in  the 
history  of  the  Province.f 

At  the  time  Dobbs  was  appointed  Governor, 
the  Province  was  in  a  condition  requiring  more 
than  ordinary  ability  in  the  Executive,  and 
this  ability  the  aged  Governor  sadl}^  lacked. 
When  the  Legislature  assembled,  six  weeks 
after  his  qualification,  at  Newbern,  his  first 
recommendation  to  the  body  was  to  fix  a  per- 
manent and  adequate  revenue  on  the  Crown  to 

*Governor  Dobbs  to  the  Board  of  Trade.  Col.  Rec,  vol.  V, 
279;  Dinwiddie  Papers,  vol.  I,  367. 

tHis  first  civil  service  was  rendered  after  his  return  from  that 
expedition,  when  he  was  appointed  and  served  for  several 
months  as  Clerk  of  the  Council,  and  this  writer  has  two  of  the 
original  orders  of  the  Council  in  his  handwriting  and  with  his 
signature  attached,  dated  respectively  December  loth,  1754, 
and  January  loth,  1755,  which  are  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion. 


And  HIvS  Times.  29 

meet  the  expenses  of  government,  and  the 
next  was  to  provide  a  proper  salary  for  the 
Governor.  The  latter  suggestion  did  not  seem 
to  excite  much  enthusiasm  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature,  as  no  notice  was  taken 
of  it ;  but  they  promptly  voted  eight  thousand 
pounds  for  the  defence  of  the  Province,  laid 
tonnage  duties,  payable  in  powder  and  lead, 
allowed  bounties  for  facilitating  enlistments, 
and  considered  and  acted  upon  such  other  recom- 
mendations of  the  Governor  as  they  deemed 
important,  especially  the  reorganization  of 
the  Court  system  for  the  better  prevention 
of  crimes,  one  of  which — the  counterfeiting  of 
bills  of  credit — had  become  an  alarming  evil. 
But,  although  Dobbs  was  not  fully  equal  to 
all  the  requirements  of  his  position,  especially 
in  some  matters  of  civil  administration,  he  was 
prompt  and  earnest  in  his  efforts  to  render  the 
Crown  all  the  assistance  in  his  power  in  the 
war  with  the  French. 

Early  in  April,  1755,  in  answer  to  the  request 
of  the  ill-fated  Braddock,  who  had,  not  long 
before,  arrived  with  his  fine  English  troops  at 
Williamsburg,  Va.,  he  met  some  of  the  other 
Governors  of  the  Provinces  at  Alexandria, 
where  the  three  celebrated  expeditions  against 
Fort  Du  Quesne,  Frontenac  and  Crown  Point 


30  A  Colonial  Officer 

were  agreed  upon,  neither  of  which  was  suc- 
cessful, but  the  last  named  of  which  inspired 
Dr.  Shackburg  to  compose  the  tune  of  Yankee 
Doodle. '='  After  his  return  from  the  meeting 
of  the  Governors,  and  during  the  summer, 
Governor  Dobbs  visited  the  Western  frontier 
of  North  Carolina — as  the  region  around  Salis- 
bury was  then  called — to  select  sites  for  the 
erection  of  fortifications,  and  also  made  a  tour 
along  the  seacoast  to  ascertain  where  he  could 
erect  additional  forts  to  those  then  completed, 
or  in  process  of  completion,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Cape  Fear  River,  at  Topsail  Inlet,  at  Bear 
Inlet  and  at  Ocracoke.f  Upon  his  return,  and 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  at  Newbern 
on  the  25th  September,  he  set  forth  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Province,  the  increasing  danger  of 
French  supremacy  over  all  the  territory  w^est 
of  the  Alleghanies  from  Canada  to  Louisiana, 
their  growing  influence  over  the  Indians   and 

*This  is  the  generally  accepted  origin  of  Yankee  Doodle; 
but  it  is  denied,  and  an  interesting  history  of  its  origin  is  given 
in   "  Gleanings  for  the  Curious,"  page  353. 

tThe  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  was  named  Fort 
Johnston  after  Governor  Gabriel  Johnston,  was  authorized  by 
Act  of  1745,  completed  in  1748,  made  a  quarantine  station  in 
1761.  Captain  John  Dalrymple  was  appointed  its  commander 
by  General  Braddock  in  May,  1755.  The  Fort  at  Ocracoke  was 
named  Fort  Granville. 


And  HIvS  Timks.  31 

the  necessity  for  renewed  exertions  to  defeat 
their  schemes.  He  earnestly  appealed  to  them 
in  the  King's  name  to  grant  as  large  a  snm  as 
possible,  consistent  with  the  resonrces  of  the 
Province,  to  defend  the  frontier  and  to  assist 
in  offensive  operations  against  the  enemy.  He 
nrged,  in  this  connection,  the  erection  of  a  fort 
between  Third  and  Fourth  Creeks  near  the 
South  Yadkin  River,  in  Rowan  County,  which 
was  regarded  as  nearly  a  central  point  on  the 
frontier  between  the  Northern  and  Southern 
boundaries  of  the  Province. 

In  response  to  this  appeal,  the  Legislature 
appropriated  ten  thousand  pounds  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  fort  at  that  point,  and  for  raising 
and  equipping  and  paying  three  companies  of 
fift}^  men  each,  exclusive  of  commissioned 
officers. 

And  now  the  name  of  Hugh  Waddell  began 
to  be  conspicuous  in  North  Carolina  annals. 
He  had  already  acquired  some  reputation,  and 
had  been  promoted  in  the  expedition  of  1754 — 
although  not  j^et  of  age — as  appears,  not  only 
from  Governor  Dobbs'  letter  already  cited,  but 
from  the  following  passage  in  Williamson's 
History'-'  in  regard  to  the  necessit}^  which  arose 


^Volume  II,  page  86. 


32  A  Colonial  Officer 

for  treating  with  the  Indians  at  that  time,  viz: 
"For  this  purpose,  Hugh  Waddell,  of  Rowan 
County,  an  officer  of  great  firmness  and  integ- 
rity, was  commissioned  to  treat  with  the  Ca- 
tawba and  Cherokee  Indians."  Whether  there 
is  any  other  reason  for  giving  Rowan  Count}^ 
as  his  residence  at  that  time  than  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  one  of  the  first  grants  of 
land  to  him  was  located  there,  and  that  his 
military  service  at  that  time  was  rendered  there, 
is  unknown.  There  is  a  deed  recorded  in  New 
Hanover  County  for  a  lot  in  Wilmington,  con- 
ve3^ed  by  Edward  Moseley  to  his  "loving 
friend  "  Hugh  Waddell,  which  is  dated  "Fort 
Dobbs,  March  9th,  1761,"  in  which  both  parties 
are  described  as  of  Rowan  County,  but,  as 
Moseley  never  lived  in  Rowan,  it  is  evident 
that  the  place  where  the  deed  was  ?nadc  is 
given  as  their  residence.  They  were  both  on 
military  duty  there  then,  and  most  of  the 
grants  to  Waddell  up  to  that  time  were  for 
lands  in  Anson  County. 

The  treaty  referred  to  by  Williamson  was 
made  bj^  Captain  Waddell  in  1756,  about  the 
time  he  built  the  fort  authorized  by  the  Assem- 
bly in  the  fall  of  1755  above  mentioned.  It 
was  a  treaty  offensive  and  defensive,  and  was 
executed  on  behalf  of    the  Catawbas  by  Ora- 


And  His  Times.  33 

loswa,  King  Higlar  and  others,  and  on  the 
part  of  the  Cherokees  by  the  distinguished 
Chief  and  Orator,  Atta-Kulla-Kulla.  This 
last  named  Indian  Chief  was  a  man  of  decided 
ability,  and  was  far  in  advance  of  his  race  in 
his  desire  for  peace  and  civilization.  He  was, 
according  to  Hewat,  "  esteemed  to  be  the  wisest 
man  of  the  nation  and  the  most  steady  friend 
of  the  Knglish."  He  had  visited  England  as 
early  as  1730,'''  and  in  1767  went  by  sea  to 
New  York,  where  he  was  treated  with  marked 

kindness.f 

At  the  instigation  of  individuals  in  South 
Carolina,  permitted,  if  not  encouraged,  by  Go\'- 
ernor  Lyttleton  of  that  Province,  who  was 
constantly  doing  such  things,  these  Indians 
demanded,  as  a  part  of  the  treaty,  that  a  fort 
should  be  built  in  the  territory  of  each  tribe 
by  the  English,  as  a  place  of  refuge  and  pro- 
tection for  their  women  and  children  in  the 
event  that  their  warriors  should  have  to  march 
against  the  French. 

Virginia  and  South  Carolina  built  the  Chero- 
kee fort,  and  North  Carolina  undertook  to 
build  for   the  Catawbas  ;   but    the   next  year, 


*Ban croft,  Vol.  348. 

tHistorical  Magazine,  Sept.,   1857,  page  282. 


34  A  Colonial  Officer 

while  the  workmen  were  engaged  in  building 
the  work,  under  Captain  Waddell's  direction, 
he  was  surprised  at  receiving  an  order  from 
Governor  Dobbs  to  discharge  them,  for  the 
reason  that  he,  Dobbs,  had  received  a  message 
from  Governor  Lyttleton  sajdng  that  the 
Indians  desired  that  no  fort  should  be  built 
except  by  South  Carolina.  Dobbs  instructed 
Captain  Waddell  at  the  same  time  to  inquire 
into  and  ascertain  the  meaning  of  such  con- 
duct. Where  this  Catawba  Indian  fort,  in- 
tended for  their  protection,  is  built  is  not 
knowm  f'  but  the  fort  between  the  Third  and 
Fourth  Creeks,  in  Rowan,  authorized  by  the 
Legislature  in  1755,  was  built  by  Captain 
Waddell  previousl}^  to  his  commencing  the 
work  for  the  Indians  and  was  named  Fort 
Dobbs.  Whether  he  had  any  engineering 
skill  or  not  does  not  appear,  but  very  little,  if 
any,  was  required  in  the  works  erected  "for 
defence  against  Indian  attacks.  In  a  letter  to 
the  Earl  of  Loudon,  of  date  July  loth,  1756, 
Governor  Dobbs,  speaking  of  the  necessity  for 
a  fort  at  Lookout  Harbor,  says:  "As  I  have 
no  engineer  here,  nor  know  how  to  get  one,  I 


*It  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  same   as  0/d  /-or/,  iu  Mc- 
Dowell County. 


And  His  TimEvS.  35 

was  obliged  to  act  as  engineer  myself,  and  rub 
up  my  former  knowledge  in  fortifications  when 
I  was  in  the  army,  and  have  accordingly  drawn 
up  a  plan,  &c."  A  very  unique  description  of 
Fort  Dobbs  was  given  in  the  report  of  the  Com- 
missioners, Francis  Brown  and  Richard  Cas- 
well, to  the  Legislature.  They  had  been  sent 
out  to  view  the  Western  settlements,  to  examine 
localities  suitable  for  additional  forts,  and  to 
inspect  Fort  Dobbs,  and  in  regard  to  the  latter 
the}^  reported  as  follows: 

"And  that  they  had  likewise  viewed  the 
State  of  Fort  Dobbs,  and  found  it  to  be  a  good 
and  Substantial  Building  of  the  Dimentions 
following  (that  is  to  say)  The  Oblong  Square 
fift}^  three  feet  by  forty,  the  opposite  Angles 
Twenty  four  feet  and  Twenty-Two  In  height 
Twenty  four  and  a  half  feet  as  by  the  Plan 
annexed  Appears,  The  Thickness  of  the  Walls 
which  are  made  of  Oak  Logs  regularly  dimin- 
ished from  sixteen  Inches  to  Six,  it  contains 
three  floors,  and  there  may  be  discharged  from 
each  floor  at  one  and  the  same  time  about  one 
hundred  Musketts  the  same  is  beautifull}'  sit- 
uated in  the  fork  of  Fourth  Creek  a  Branch  of 
the  Yadkin  River,  And  they  also  found  under 
Command  of  Capt  Hugh  Waddel  Forty  six 
Effective  men  Officers  and  Soldiers  as  by  the 


36  A  Colonial  Officer 

List  to  the  said  Report  Annexed  Appears  the 
same  being  sworn  to  by  the  said  Capt  in  their 
Presence  the  said  Officers  and  Soldiers  Appear- 
ing well  and  in  good  Spirits — Signed  the  21st 
day  of  December  1756 

FrancIvS  Brown 
Richard  Caswell" 
Captain  Waddell  was  twenty-one  years  old 
when  this  work  was  erected,  and  judging  by 
his  rank  and  the  importance  of  the  business 
entrusted  to  him,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  he  had  already  exhibited  the  qualities 
which  afterwards  made  him  the  highest  mili- 
tary officer  in  the  Province  before  he  had 
attained  the  age  of  thirty-five. 

He  remained  on  frontier  duty  during  the 
year  1756,  and  until  the  latter  part  of  Novem- 
ber, 1757,  when  he  took  his  seat  for  the  first 
time  in  the  General  Assembly  as  'a  member 
from  Rowan  County,  having  been  elected  to 
fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  the  expulsion  from 
that  body  of  a  member  from  that  County. 
During  1757,  in  addition  to  commencing  the 
fort  for  the  Catawbas  which  Governor  Lj'ttle- 
ton,  of  South  Carolina,  interfered  with,  he  was 
called  upon  to  make  a  ver}^  ^ong  and  tedious 
march  with  his  command  over  an  exceedingly 


And  His  Times.  37 

rough  country  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Loudon, ••= 
where  Captain  Paul  Demeref  was  in  great 
danger.  This  fort  was  built  by  Andrew  Lewis 
under  orders  from  the  Earl  of  Loudon,  Com- 
mander-in-Chief, and  was  situated  on  the  South- 
ern bank  of  the  Tennessee  River,  about  thirty 
miles  from  the  present  city  of  Knoxville,  and 
was  the  northernmost  of  a  series  of  forts  com- 
mencing at  Augusta,  Georgia,  and  extending 
up  the  Savannah  River. 

Lewis  informed  Governor  Dobbs  that  nego- 
tiations were  going  on  between  the  French  and 
the  Cherokees,  Nantowees  and  Savannahs,  and 
that  after  the  fort  was  built,  and  after  Captain 
Demere,  who  had  been  sent  there  with  a  garri- 
son of  two  hundred  men,  had  taken  possession, 
the  Cherokees  expressed  great  dissatisfaction 
at  the  presence  of  so  many  armed  men  among 
them  and  desired  that  they  should  be  sent 
back.  Lewis  said  their  intention  was  to  take 
the  fort  and  surrender  it  to  the  French.  Upon 
this  information  Captain  Waddell  was  sent  out 
with  reinforcements.! 


*There  was  also  a  Fort  Loudofi  at  Winchester,  Virginia. 

tMis-spelled  Dennie  in  all  N.  C.  histories.  He  was  Captain 
of  the  South  Carolina  Independent  Company  after  Captain 
MacKaye.  Commanded  at  Fort  Prince  George  in  1760,  and 
was  killed  by  the  Cherokees. 

jMartin,  vol.  II,  page  90. 


38  A  Colonial  Officer 

An  examination  of  a  map  of  the  country 
over  which  this  march  had  to  be  made,  will 
give  some  idea  of  the  kind  of  service  required 
of  Provincial  troops  at  that  time.  The  dis- 
tance b}^  the  route  taken  was  more  than  two 
hundred  miles,  the  whole  territory  was  covered 
by  an  unbroken  forest,  and  nearly  half  of  it 
was  a  wilderness  of  mountain  ranges  higher 
than  any  on  the  continent  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  There  were  no  roads  except  In- 
dian trails,  and  no  inhabitants  save  the  savage 
and  treacherous  red  man. 

Again,  during  the  year  1757,  Governor  Dobbs 
was  asked  to  render  aid  to  South  Carolina 
where,  as  Governor  Iv3^ttleton  informed  him, 
the  Indians,  continually  instigated  by  the 
French,  were  becoming  very  troublesome  and 
would  soon,  unless  aid  was  extended,  be  beyond 
his  power  to  control.  The  Legislature  granted 
the  aid  asked,  and  it  is  probable  that  Captain 
Waddell  was  again  ordered  to  march  his  com- 
mand to  the  relief  of  the  sister  Colony,  but 
there  is  no  record  of  the  expedition. 

He  remained  on  frontier  duty,  as  already 
stated,  until  elected  to  the  Assembly,  in  which 
body  he  took  his  seat  on  the  28th  November, 
1757,  and  on  the  adjournment  of  the  Assembly 
he  returned  to  his  command,  and  soon  after, 


And  His  Timks.  39 

in  Ma}',  1758,  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
Major,  and  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
three  companies  raised  for  the  final  expedition 
against  Fort  Dn  Quesne  nnder  General  Forbes, 
an  account  of  which  will  be  given  in  the  next 
chapter. 


Before  proceeding  to  an  account  of  that 
expedition,  however,  it  will  be  alike  pertinent 
to  the  subject,  and  eminently  due  to  the  mem- 
ory of  another  brave  and  faithful  North  Caro- 
lina Colonial  officer,  to  recite  the  facts  in  regard 
to  the  campaign  of  1754,  with  which  he,  and 
the  soldiers  under  him,  were  connected,  and 
concerning  which  there  has  been  some  m3^sti- 
fication  and  much  misrepresentation.  The 
publication,  in  1884,  of  the  "  Dinwiddie  Pa- 
pers "  by  the  Historical  Society  of  Virginia, 
has  thrown  much  light  on  the  subject,  although 
if  both  sides  of  the  correspondence  between 
Governor  Dinwiddie  and  that  officer  could  have 
been  preserved  and  published,  the  facts  would 
be  much  clearer  than  the}^  are. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1754,  while 
Matthew  Rowan,  President  of  the  Council,  was 
acting  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  and  before 
the  arrival  of  Governor  Dobbs,  the  Assembly 


40  A   Colonial  Officer 

had  voted — as  they  alwaj^s  did,  though  other 
Colonies  failed'^ — a  liberal  sum  of  money 
(^12,000)  in  aid  of  Virginia  to  repel  French 
invasion  and  maintain  the  right  of  Great  Britain 
to  the  territory  along  the  Ohio  and  its  tributa- 
ries. This  was  the  first  tmie  in  our  Colonial 
history  that  troops  were  raised  by  a  Colony 
to  serve  outside  of  its  borders  i7i  the  common 
defence  of  all ^  and  the  spirit  thereby  manifested 
exhibited  itself  afterwards  in  the  first  arjned 
resistance  to  the  Stamp  Act  in  America,  and 
in  the  first  Declaration  of  Independence. 

On  the  23d  of  March  Governor  Dinwiddle 
acknowledged  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  Presi- 
dent Rowan,  by  the  hands  of  Mr.  Ashe,  in 
regard  to  the  action  of  North  Carolina,  and 
expressed  his  pleasure  thereat.  He  said  his 
own  Assembl}^  were  much  divided,  that  a  spirit 
of  contention  existed  among  them,  and  that 
they  had  voted  only  ^10,000  for  the  imme- 
diate raising  of  300  men  to  join  and  escort  a 
company  of  100  men,  then  on  the  Ohio,  for 
the  purpose  of  building  a  fort;  but  he  did  not 
doubt  that  they  would  raise  a  much  larger 
sum  for  the  general  defence.     He  said  that  as 

*"  Except  North  Carolina,  not  one  of  the  other  Colonies  has 
granted  any  supplies."  Governor  Dinwiddie  to  C.  Hanbury, 
May  loth,  1754. 


And  HIvS  Time;s.  41 

the  campaign  was  to  be  for  the  common  safety 
of  all,  each  Colony  shonld  pay  and  provision 
its  own  forces.  He  expressed  surprise  at  the 
liberal  pay  allowed  by  North  Carolina  to  her 
soldiers,  viz.:  three  shillings  a  day,  and  begged 
President  Rowan  to  use  his  influence  with  the 
officers  and  soldiers  to  induce  them  to  accept 
the  same  pay  as  the  Virginians,  which  was 
eight  pence  a  da}^,  but  said  he  feared,  if  the 
North  Carolinians  knew  that,  thej-  would  not 
come.  Then,  after  some  inquiry  about  pro- 
visions. Governor  Dinwiddie  saj^s: 

"  I  am  glad  your  regiment  comes  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Innes,  whose  capacity, 
judgment  and  cool  conduct  I  have  a  great 
regard  for.  And  when  he  comes  here  I  will 
do  all  I  can  to  help  him.  The  march  of  your 
people  by  land  will  be  long  and  very  fatiguing. 
I  advise  their  coming  by  sea  to  Hampton,"  &c. 

On  the  same  da}^  he  wrote  to  Colonel  Innes, 
in  answer  to  a  letter  from  him  by  Mr.  Ashe, 
addressing  him  as  "Dear  James,"  expressing 
his  pleasure  at  the  prospect  of  seeing  him  "at 
the  head  of  a  regiment  of  750  men,"  telling 
him  that  he  intended  him  for  the  chief  com- 
mand, but  that  the  few  troops  already  raised 
had  to  march  immediately  to  the  Ohio,  and^ 
therefore,  he  had  to  commission  the  officers. 
4 


42  A   Colonial  Officer 

It  would  seem  that  Colonel  Innes  had  alluded 
to  his  own  age  as  a  possible  difficulty  in  his 
wa}',  and  also  to  the  expectations  of  the  \^ir- 
ginians  in  regard  to  the  command  of  the  troops, 
for  Governor  Dinwiddie  says:  "Your  age  is 
nothing  when  you  reflect  on  ^^our  regular 
method  of  living."  And  again:  "As  for  the 
expectations  of  the  people  here,  I  always  have 
regard  to  merit,  and  I  know  yours,  and  you 
need  not  mind  or  fear  any  reflections." 

Colonel  Innes  reported  in  person  to  Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie  promptly,  and  on  the  15th 
April,  took  a  letter  from  him  to  President 
Rowan,  from  which  it  appears  that  there  had 
been  a  full  conference  between  them  in  regard 
to  the  North  Carolina  forces. 

Colonel  Joshua  Fr}^,  "  an  English  gentle- 
man, bred  at  Oxford,"'''  was  made  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  expedition.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
George  Washington  started  from  Alexandria 
on  the  loth  May  with  the  first  detachment  of 
150  men,  and  had  arrived  within  seventy-five 
miles  of  the  place  selected  for  the  erection  of 
the  fort  at  the  Forks  of  the  Monongaheia,  when 
he  learned  that  a  French  force  had  comedown 
on  the  company  building  it  and  had  captured  it. 

^Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  by  Francis  Parkman,  Vol.  I,  142. 


And  His  Times.  43 

Washington  then  went  into  camp  and  awaited 
reinforcements.  Colonel  Fry  was  taken  ill,  and 
there  was  great  delay  in  moving  his  command 
to  Washington's  assistance.  Abont  the  first 
of  June  Colonel  Fry  died,  and  on  the  4th  Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie,  writing  to  Washington,  whom 
he  had  promoted  to  the  Colonelcy  of  the  Vir- 
ginia regiment  in  Fry's  stead,  informed  him 
that  "  Colonel  James  Innes,  an  old  experienced 
officer,  is  daily  expected,  who  is  appointed 
Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  forces,  which  I 
am  ver}^  sensible  will  be  very  agreeable  to  you 
and  the  other  officers."  On  the  same  day  he 
made  out  Colonel  Innes'  commission  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief, and  his  instructions.  On  the 
loth,  Washington,  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  the  letter  to  him,  says :  "I  rejoice  that  I  am 
likely  to  be  happ}'  under  the  command  of  an 
experienced  officer  and  man  of  sense.  It  is 
what  I  have  ardently  wished  for."  On  the 
20th,  Governor  Dinwiddie,  writing  to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  announced  the  arrival  of 
the  two  companies  from  that  Province,  but 
complained  bitterl}^  that  the}^  were  not  only 
not  "  Compleat  in  Numbers,"  as  promised, 
but  that  many  were  too  old  to  stand  a  march 
of  two  hundred  miles ;  that  they  had  no  blank- 
ets, tents  or  provisions,  and  were  "  burthened 


44  A  Colonial  Officer 

with  thirty  women  and  children" — a  decidedl}^ 
Falstaffian  combination. 

Abont  the  last  of  Jnne,  the  North  Carolina 
troops,  which,  npon  the  discovery  that  each  of 
the  Colonies  wonld  have  to  support  its  own 
forces,  had  been  reduced  in  number  from  750, 
the  force  originally  determined  upon,  to  450, 
began  to  arrive  at  Winchester,  having  marched 
through  the  country  instead  of  taking  ship  to 
Hampton,  as  suggested  by  Governor  Dinwid- 
dle, and  about  the  same  time  Colonel  Wash- 
ington was  complaining  to  the  Governor  that 
his  command  had  had  no  flour  for  six  days, 
and  could  not  hear  of  any  on  the  way  to  them  ; 
that  they  did  not  have  provisions  of  any  sort 
for  two  days  ahead,  and  that  they  were  in  want 
of  ammunition. 

Colonel  Innes  was  also  writing  to  Governor 
Dinwnddie  about  the  wretched  mismanagement 
of  the  expedition  and  the  want  of  supplies  of 
all  sorts;  and,  finally,  on  the  nth  of  July,  he 
informed  him  that  unless  something  was  done 
he  should  disband  the  North  Carolina  regiment 
and  let  them  go  home.  They  were  not  onlj^ 
without  supplies,  but  their  pay  was  in  arrears 
and  they  could  not  buy  what  they  needed. 
Governor  Dinwiddie  declined  to  advance  any 
money  to  them,  saying,  "  Our  own   regiment 


And  His  Times.  45 

has  got  all  the  mone}^  I  can  spare,"  and  repeat- 
ing that  each  Colonj^  must  subsist  its  own 
forces.  He  said  he  and  the  Quartermaster  and 
Commissary  were  in  advance  to  the  North 
Carolina  regiment,  and  expected  payynent  from 
the  produce  of  the  pork  brought  from  North 
Carolina^  or  purchased  by  Innes,  and  he  advised 
the  latter  to  consult  Governor  Dobbs  as  to 
what  he  should  do  for  the  future,  "  and  it  is 
probable  he  will  find  some  method  of  keeping 
your  regiment  together  for  eight  months 
longer."  After  telling  him  to  call  a  council 
of  officers  to  consult  about  building  a  log  fort 
and  magazine,  and  saying  that  he  did  not  wish 
him  to  proceed  towards  the  Ohio,  &c.,  &c.,  he 
again  informs  him  as  follows:  "  I  can  give  no 
orders  for  entertaining  your  regiment,  as  this 
Dominion  will  maintain  none  but  their  own 
forces."  At  the  same  time,  as  appears  b}- 
Governor  Dinwiddle's  letter  to  Abercrombie,  he 
was  supplying  the  two  independent  companies 
from  New  York,  and  the  independent  compau}- 
from  South  Carolina,  with  everything  the}- 
needed,  except  their  pay,  which  came  out  of 
the  royal  revenue,  viz.:  "  tents,  blankets,  ket- 
tles, knapsacks,  spatterdashes,  wagons  and 
provisions,"  and  the  South  Carolina  compau}^ 
had  gone  to  the  front  and  joined  Washington, 


46  A  Colonial  Officer 

and  on  the  3d  of  July  had  surrendered,  with 
the  force  under  him,  at  the  Great  Meadows, 
after  a  gallant  engagement  with  much  supe- 
rior numbers. 

Colonel  Innes,  who  was  at  Winchester,  where 
the  forces  were  to  assemble,  soon  discovered  a 
strong  feeling  among  the  Virginians  against 
his  appointment  to  the  chief  command,  and  a 
mutinous  disposition  soon  developed  itself 
among  them,  which  he  reported  to  the  Gov- 
ernor, who  said  he  was  sorry  for  it,  and  added 
that  they  had  been  greatly  fatigued  and  not 
properly  paid,  "  but  as  money  is  ordered  for 
them  I  hope  they  will  proceed  with  spirit." 

The  North  Carolina  troops  were  not  recruited 
rapidly,  and,  from  various  causes,  were  slow 
in  getting  to  Virginia.  They  were,  doubtless, 
apprehensive  of  the  very  result  which  hap- 
pened. Knowing  that  their  number  had  been 
reduced  from  that  originally  intended,  because 
of  the  difficulty  of  supporting  such  a  force 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Province,  where  the 
only  money  they  had  would  not  pass  current, 
they  doubtless  began  the  service  with  misgiv- 
ings. Finding  after  they  got  to  Virginia  that 
they  were  in  danger  of  starvation,  and  that  the 
Virginians  were  mutinous  about  Colonel  Innes' 
appointment,    and    that    Governor    Dinwiddle 


And  His  Times.  47 

demanded  tliat  they  should  not  receive  more 
than  eight  pence  a  day,  and  that  he  had  written 
to  Colonel  Innes  "  the}^  cannot  have  the  inipu^ 
dence  to  expect  more  than  eight  pence  a  day, 
as  the  other  forces  have,  and  if  you  cannot 
compel  them  to  serve  for  it  I  think  they  had 
better  be  disbanded,"  and  Governor  Dinwiddie 
having  expressed  the  opinion,  i7i  advance  of 
any  knowledge  on  the  subject,  that  their  com- 
pany officers  were  incompetent,  and  the  situa- 
tion having  become  well-nigh  desperate  under 
the  pressure  of  such  circumstances.  Colonel 
Innes  disbanded  them. 

These  are  the  facts  in  regard  to  this  matter, 
as  gathered  from  the  correspondence  of  Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie  himself,  recently  published, 
but  they  do  not  so  appear  upon  the  page  of 
history.  There  the  North  Carolina  troops  are 
represented  (as  one  writer  puts  it)  as  having 
"  disbanded  themselves  in  a  very  disorderly 
manner,"  and  "  to  this  unmilitary  conduct 
and  lack  of  patriotism  "  is  attributed  the  fail- 
ure of  the  projected  expedition  against  the 
French. '='  None  of  the  reasons  for  their  con- 
duct are  given,  except  such  as  make  them 
appear  in  an  unfavorable  light. 

*Sparks's  "Washington's  Writings,"  Vol.  II,  page  63,  note. 


48  A  Colonial  Officer 

Colonel  Innes  was  ordered  to  build  a  fort  on 
Wills's  Creek,  afterwards  called  Fort  Cumber- 
land, as  a  rallying  point,  and  did  so.  He 
remained  there  in  command  with  aboiU  400 
men,  only  fort}^  of  whom  were  North  Caro- 
linians. 

The  Virginia  Assembly  met  on  the  2  2d  da}' 
of  August,  and  on  the  27th  passed  a  suppl}' 
bill  for  ;^20,ooo,  but  the  next  day  put  a  "rider" 
on  it,  to  pay  a  private  account,  greatly  to  the 
disgust  of  Governor  Dinwiddie,  who  called  it 
"a  rider"  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Hamilton, 
and  said  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Fairfax,  "  I  imagine 
your  Lordship,  in  your  observation  of  the  Par- 
liament's proceedings,  does  not  remember  an}?- 
tack  to  a  money  bill  since  King  William's 
reign." 

The  Council  rejected  the  bill  thus  clogged, 
and  as  the  House  stuck  to  their  "  rider  "  the 
Governor  prorogued  them  until  the  17th  Octo- 
ber. This  refusal  to  vote  money  to  support 
the  troops,  although  ostensibly  because  of  the 
failure  of  the  "  rider,"  was  really  because 
Colonel  Innes  was  occupying  the  position 
which  the  Assembl}'  thought  Washington 
ought  to  have,  and,  consequently,  there  was  no 
attempt  at  a  movement  against  the  French. 

Colonel  Innes  became  verj'^  restive  under  his 


And  His  Times.  49 

enforced  inaction  and  the  many  annoyances  to 
which  he  was  snbjected,  and  so  informed  the 
Governor,  who  begged  him  to  be  patient  a  little 
while  longer.     This  was  on  the  5tli  of  October. 

Between  that  date  and  the  20th,  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  Governor  Dobbs,  the  newl}''  ap- 
pointed Governor  of  North  Carolina,  and  Gov- 
ernor Sharpe  of  Mar3^1and  met  for  consnltation 
and  agreed  upon  a  plan  of  operations  ;  and  at 
this  meeting  Governor  Sharpe  produced  a  com- 
mission from  the  King  appointing  him  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  proposed  expedition, 
whereupon  the  Governors  agreed  to  appoint 
Colonel  Innes  "  Camp  Master  General  "  with 
the  rank  then  held  by  him,  and  he  was  so 
notified  on  the  24th.  On  the  25th,  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  writing  to  Sir  Thomas  Robinson, 
said  he  was  glad  Governor  Sharpe  was  appointed 
Commander-in-Chief,  as  it  would  put  an  end 
to  some  disputes  between  the  independent 
companies  and  the  officer  in  command. 

"  This  person.  Colonel  J.  Innes,"  he  said, 
*' has  been  in  His  Majesty's  army  and  is  of 
an  unblemished  character,  of  great  reputation 
for  his  bravery  and  conduct,  and  I  shall  still 
endeavor  to  keep  him  in  the  service." 

Innes  wanted  to  resign,  and  Washington 
did  resign,  on  account  of  the  impudent  claims 


50  A  Colonial  Officer 

of  the  Captains  of  the  independent  companies, 
who  refused  to  recognize  their  superior  rank. 

Governor  Sharpe  never  had  an  opportunity 
to  display  his  military  skill  that  j^ear,  and  the 
next  year  Braddock  was  sent  out  from  Eng- 
land as  commander  of  the  forces. 

Colonel  Innes  remained  at  Fort  Cumberland 
making  treaties  with  the  Indians  and  organ- 
izing the  forces  while  completing  the  fort ; 
and  on  the  24th  June,  1755,  was  appointed 
"  Governor  of  Fort  Cumberland  "  by  General 
Braddock,  and  left  in  command  there  when 
Braddock  advanced  on  his  hapless  march.  And 
there  he  received  the  broken  fugitives  from  the 
fatal  field,  and  there  he  was  abandoned  by 
Colonel  Dunbar,  who  succeeded  Braddock  in 
the  command,  and  who  precipitately  "  went 
into  winter-quarters"  (in  August)  in  Phila- 
delphia, leaving  Innes  with  400  sick  and 
wounded,  and  a  handful  of  Provincials  to 
defend  the  frontier.  And  there  this  ill-used 
but  true  and  loyal  soldier  continued  to  do  his 
duty  to  his  King  and  countr}^  faithfully  and 
in  the  face  of  all  sorts  of  difficulties  until  the 
spring  of  1756,  when  he  returned  to  North 
Carolina  on  leave  of  absence. 

Sparks,  in  a  note  to  his  edition  of  Wash- 
ington's Writings    (Vol.    II,   page   262),   says 


And  His  Times.  51 

that  Colonel  Innes  was  incompetent,  and  that, 
aside  from  his  incompetency,  he  was  an  inhabi- 
tant of  North  Carolina,  and,  as  snch,  was 
nnacceptable  to  the  Virginia  troops,  and  that 
Governor  Dinwiddle  was  censnred  on  the 
gronnd  that  he  was  partial  to  Innes  because 
he  and  Innes  were  both  natives  of  Scotland. 
The  charge  of  incompetency  was  not  supported 
by  any  evidence  whatever,  unless  Colonel 
Innes'  patient  endurance  of  ungenerous  treat- 
ment, his  urgent  requests  to  be  sent  to  the 
front,  and  the  commendation  of  Governor  Din- 
widdle, and  Lord  Loudon,  the  Commander-in- 
Chief,  can  be  twisted  into  such  evidence.  He 
had  served  as  a  Captain  in  the  expedition 
against  Carthagena  in  1740,  and  was  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  Washington's  elder  brother, 
Major  Lawrence  Washington,  who  was  also  a 
Captain  in  Colonel  Wm.  Gooch's  Virginia 
regiment  in  that  affair. 

That  he  was  not  the  equal  of  Washington 
may  be  cordially  admitted,  but  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that,  at  that  time,  Washington 
himself  had  been  the  victim  of  two  disasters — 
the  surrender  at  the  Great  Meadows  and  Brad- 
dock's  defeat — and  that  no  opportunity-  had 
been  presented  for  the  exhibition  of  his  great 
capacity ;  and  further,  that,  however  absurd  a 


52  A  Colonial  Officer 

comparison  between  him  and  Washington  may 
now  appear,  the  situation  then  did  not  justify 
Mr.  Sparks'  criticism,  which  is  thus  com- 
mented upon  because  it  was  the  basis  upon 
which  many,  if  not  all,  subsequent  writers  have 
rested  their  discussion  of  the  campaigns  of 
i754-'55.  Mr.  Sparks  was  entirely  justified, 
however,  in  characterizing  as  natural*  the  asser- 
tion of  their  "rights"  in  the  affair  b}^  the 
Virginians,  for  three  years  afterwards  the 
Virginia  Assembly,  being  dissatisfied  with  the 
manner  in  which  Forbes'  expedition  was  man- 
aged, "and  with  the  partiality  which  the}^ 
imagined  was  shown  to  Pennsylvania,"  passed 
an  act  on  the  14th  of  September,  1758,  to  with- 
draw the  first  regiment  (Washington's)  from 
the  Regulars  on  the  ist  December  and  station 
it  on  the  frontiers  of  their  own  Colony — which 
would  have  amounted  to  a  withdrawal  of  all 
the  Virginia  troops,  as  the  time  of  enlistment 
of  the  second  regiment  expired  on  the  ist  of 
December,  while  the  first  regiment  was  enlisted 
for  the  war. 

The  foregoing  narrative  of  facts,  which  is 
now  for  the  first  time  compiled,  is  given  in 
justice  to  the  memor\'  of  a  good  and  true  man, 

*Sparks,  Vol.  II,  page  30S,  note. 


And  His  Times.  53 

who  died  a  childless  benefactor  of  the  children 
of  his  poorer  fellow-citizens.  And  as  a  proper 
conclnsion  to  it,  the  following  biographical 
data  are  added: 

James  Innes  was  born,  as  is  inferred  from  a 
clause  in  his  will,  at  Cannisbay,  in  Caithness, 
which  is  in  the  extreme  Northern  part  of  Scot- 
land, near  "John  O'Groat's  house."  He  prob- 
abl}^  came  to  the  Province  of  North  Carolina 
with  Governor  Gabriel  Johnston,  as  he  was 
recommended  for  appointment  to  the  Council 
in  1734,  and  was  living  in  the  Province  in  1735. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Council  from  July, 
1750,  to  May,  1759,  having  previously  served 
as  Captain  in  the  expedition  to  Carthagena, 
and  having  been  one  of  Lord  Granville's  agents, 
and  Colonel  of  the  New  Hanover  militia.  He 
died  on  the  5th  of  September,  1759,  at  Wil- 
mington. By  his  will,  which  was  made  Jul}^ 
5th,  1754,  at  Winchester,  Va.,  which  was  proved 
before  Governor  Dobbs  at  Newbern,  October 
9th,  1759,  and  is  registered  in  New  Hanover 
Count}^  Colonel  Innes,  after  directing  that  a 
remittance  maj^  be  made  "  to  Edinburg  sufficient 
to  pay  for  a  church  bell  for  the  Parish  Church  at 
Cannisbay,  in  Caithness,"  and  a  further  remit- 
tance of  one  hundred  pounds  sterling,  to  be 
put  at  interest  for  the  poor  of  said  Parish,  gave 


54  A  Colonial  Officer 

his  plantation,  "  Point  Pleasant,"  near  Wil- 
mington, a  considerable  personal  estate,  his 
library  and  one  hnndred  pounds  sterling  "  for 
the  use  of  a  free  school  for  the  benefit  of  the 
youth  of  North  Carolina,"  and  appointed  as 
trustees  of  the  fund  "the  Coll:  (Colonel)  of 
New  Hanover  regiment,  the  Parson  of  Wil- 
mington Church,  and  the  Vestry  for  the  time 
being,  or  the  majority  of  them."  This  zvas 
the  first  pn'z  'ate  bequest  for  educational  purposes 
in  the  history  of  North  Caro/ijia^  and  in  the 
same  year  (1754)  the  first  appropriation  b}^  the 
Legislature  for  a  public  seminary  was  made. 
The  Trustees,  under  his  will,  recovered  very 
little  of  his  property,  the  houses  having  been 
burned,  but'the  "  Innes  Academy  "  was  started 
under  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  1783,  and 
was  kept  up  for  some  time  by  private  sub- 
scription. 

Colonel  Innes'  widow  Jean,  in  1761,  married 
Francis  Corbin,  Lord  Granville's  agent,  a 
member  of  the  Council,  who  was  removed 
therefrom  in  1760. 


And  His  Times.  55 


CHAPTER  H. 


1758-1764. 


Forbes'  Expedition  to  Fort  Du  Quesne — Major  Waddell  Com- 
mands the  North  Carolina  Troops — Sergeant  John  Rogers — 
Return  of  the  North  Carolina  Troops  and  Expedition 
Against  the  Cherokees — Waddell  promoted  to  a  Colo- 
nelcy— Peace  Declared — End  of  Dobbs'  Administration — 
Notice  of  Dobbs'  Family. 

^  I  ^HE  forces  on  Braddock's  expedition  in 
-^  1755,  numbered  about  two  thousand,  one- 
half  of  whom  were  Provincial  troops,  and  of 
these  North  Carolina  furnished  less  than  one 
hundred,  under  Dobbs'  son,  Edward  Brice 
Dobbs,  as  Major.  These  North  Carolinians 
were  not  engaged  in  Braddock's  fight,  but  were 
with  the  reserve  corps  under  Dunbar.  The 
other  half  of  Braddock's  army  was  composed 
of  two  regiments  of  British  Regulars  from  Ire- 
land, the  44tli  and  48th,  numbering  five  hun- 
dred men  each,  and  commanded  respective!}- 
by  Sir  Peter  Halket  and  Colonel  Dunbar. 
These  regiments,  which  were  said  to  be  equal 
to  any  in  the  British  army,  were  accompanied 
b}'  an  artillerj^  train  and  militar}-  supplies. 
The  terrible  disaster  which  befell  the  expe- 


56  A  Colonial  Officer 

dition  is  familiar  to  ever}^  reader  of  American 
history,  and  a  touching  account  of  the  discovery 
of  the  remains  of  Sir  Peter  Halket  and  his 
3'oung  son  who  fought  by  his  side,  when 
Forbes'  expedition  reached  the  battlefield  three 
years  afterwards,  is  given  by  Bancroft. 

The  expedition  of  1758,  under  General 
Forbes,  was  more  than  three  times  as  large  as 
Braddock's,  and  consisted  of  i  ,200  Highlanders, 
350  Royal  Americans — a  specially  organized 
corps — about  2,700  Pennsylvanians,  1,600  Vir- 
ginians, 250  ]Mar3danders,  and  three  companies 
of  North  Carolinians,  with  whom  were  some 
Indians. 

Braddock's  expedition  ended  in  an  awful 
butchery  and  a  disgraceful  panic  and  flight  of 
the  British  Regulars,  which  the  heroic  conduct 
of  Washington  and  his  Provincials  could  not 
avail  to  arrest. 

Forbes'  expedition  terminated,  after  six 
months  of  terrible  hardships,  in  the  occupation 
of  the  smoking  ruins  of  a  fort  from  which  the 
enemy  had  fled. 

There  is,  to  the  reader  of  the  present  da}-,  a 
profound  pathos  in  the  letters  of  Washington, 
written  during  the  period  covered  by  these  two 
expeditions. 

The  constant  and  numerous  difficulties  and 


And  His  Times.  57 

annoj-ances  to  which  he  was  subjected  on  the 
last  one,  and  which  ranged  from  building  camp 
chimneys  for  the  General,  or  regulating  the 
steelyards  of  a  contractor,  all  the  way  through 
the  category  of  defending  himself  from  slander, 
resisting  impudent  attempts  to  degrade  him  in 
rank,  or  passing   sleepless  nights  of  anxiety 
over  the  condition  of  his  troops  and  the  fate  of 
the  expedition,  up  to  the  time  when,  writing 
from   Loyal  Hanna  to  Governor  Fauquier,  he 
says:   "The   General    and    great    part    of  his 
troops  being  yet  behind,  and  the  weather  grow- 
ing very  inclement,  I  apprehend  our  expedition 
must  terminate  for  this  year  at  this  place." 
These  trials  and  the  emotions  they  excited  in 
him   are   all   faithfully   reflected  in   his  corre- 
spondence during  that  period,  which  was  care- 
fully preserved  and  published,  with  his  other 
writings,  nearly  a  half  century  after  his  death. 
These  letters  discover  the  same  calm  and  lofty 
spirit,  the  same  sturdy  sense  of  duty,  the  same 
self-poise,  the  same  courage  and  sagacity,  and 
the  same  inflexible  integrity  which  marked  his 
whole  career  and  made  his  name  immortal. 

In  the  spring  of  1758,  when  the  preliminary 
arrangements  for  Forbes'  expedition  were  in 
progress,  Major  Waddell  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  three  North  Carolina  compa- 

5 


58  A  Colonial  Officer 

nies  authorized  to  be  recruited  by  the  act  of 
Assembly  granting  aid  to  the  expedition,  in 
answer  to  Mr.  Pitt's  appeal  to  the  Colonies. 
He  at  once  proceeded  to  organize,  equip  and 
prepare  the  troops  for  their  long  march,  and 
as  soon  as  the}'  were  ready  he  set  out  with 
them  for  Virginia. 

There  was  no  complaint  of  delay  in  his 
getting  to  the  front,  as  there  had  been  fre- 
quently by  Governor  Dinwiddle  in  regard  to 
the  North  Carolina  forces  in  the  two  previous 
expeditions  of  1754  and  1755.  He  marched 
promptly  to  Virginia  and  went  thence  to  the 
front  immediately.  The  writer  of  these  pages 
now  has  a  field  return  made  by  Major  Wad- 
dell  on  that  expedition.  It  is  written  on  a 
sheet  about  eight  inches  in  length  b}^  five 
inches  in  breadth,  in  a  very  clear,  legible  hand, 
and  although  the  paper  is  somewhat  worn  and 
discolored,  the  ink  is  comparativel}^  fresh- 
looking.  It  is  headed:  "A  Field  Return  of 
the  North  Carolina  Detachment  under  the  com- 
mand of  Major  Waddell,  Loyal  Hannon,*  25th 
October  1758."  Besides  the  officers,  there  are 
but  twenty-six  men  on  the  return,  but  imme- 

■*Governor  Dinwiddie  spelled  this  name  "Loyal  henning." 
It  is  Loyal  Hanna. 


And  His  Times.  59 

diateh-  under  it,  and  before  his  signature, 
"HuWaddell  Maj :  N.  C.  Troops,"  there  is 
an  addition  of  the  figures  26  and  96,  and  a 
footing  of  122,  which  was,  doubtless,  his  effect- 
ive force.  The  date  and  place  of  this  field 
return  fully  corroborate  the  statement  after- 
wards made  by  Governor  Dobbs,  that  Major 
Waddell  "  had  great  honor  done  him,  being 
employed  on  all  reconnoitering  parties "  on 
this  expedition. 

One  of  those  minor  events  which  so  often 
shape  history,  but  are  lost  sight  of  in  general 
results,  occurred  to  Major  Waddell's  command 
on  this  expedition ;  but,  although — as  has  been 
the  case  with  so  many  more  important  facts 
in  the  history  of  North  Carolina — no  credit  has 
ever  been  given  for  it,  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  the  North  Carolina  companies  were  in 
the  advance  corps  of  Forbes's  arm}^,  scouting, 
reconnoitering,  clearing  roads,  building  bridges 
and  boats,  and  rendering  the  most  valuable 
service;  and  that  to  a  Sergeant  of  Major  Wad- 
dell's commanri,  named  John  Rogers, '•'"  General 
Forbes  was  indebted  for  the  information  which 
caused  the  immediate  advance  and  occupation 

*At  August  Term,  1765,  the  Inferior  Court  of  New  Hanover 
County,  of  which  General  Waddell  was  a  Magistrate,  appointed 
John  Rogers  a  Constable. 


6o  A  Colonial  Officer 

of  the  fort.  They  had  been  in  the  advance 
corps  from  the  beginning,  and  before  Wash- 
ington had,  upon  his  own  earnest  application,''' 
been  assigned  to  that  command.  This  is  evident, 
from  the  fact  that  Major  Waddell's  field  return, 
already  mentioned,  is  dated  at  L-oj^al  Hanna 
on  the  25th  October,  while  Colonel  Washing- 
ton did  not  reach  that  point  in  the  advance 
until  the  30th. 

Washington,  who  had  saved  the  remnant  of 
Braddock's  expedition  three  years  before, 
although  treated  with  great  consideration  and 
freely  consulted  by  General  Forbes,  was  greatly 
apprehensive  that  the  persistent  refusal  to  act 
upon  his  advice  would  defeat  the  purpose  of 
the  expedition,  as  appears  by  his  letter  of  Sep- 
temper  ist  to  Speaker  Robinson,  in  which  he 
said:  "Nothing  now  but  a  miracle  can  bring 
this  campaign  to  a  happy  issue."  When, 
finally,  the  accumulating  obstacles,  dela3^s  and 

*"  Colonel  Stephen  gives  me  some  room  to  apprehend  that 
a  body  of  light  troops  may  soon  move  on.  I  pray  your  interest 
most  sincerely  with  the  General  to  get  my  regiment  and  myself 
included  in  the  number.  If  any  argument  is  needed  to  obtain 
this  favor,  I  hope,  without  vanity,  I  may  be  allowed  to  say, 
that  from  long  intimacy  with  these  woods,  and  frequent  scout- 
ing in  them,  my  men  are  at  least  as  well  acquainted  with  all 
the  passes  and  difficulties  as  any  troops  that  will  be  employed. "^ 
Washington  to  Colonel  Bouquet,  21  July. 


And  His  Times.  6i 

embarrassments  culminated  in  a  council  of 
war,  at  which  the  alternative  was  presented 
of  going  into  winter  quarters  or  abandoning 
the  expedition,  "a  mere  accident,"  as  Sparks 
says,  occurred,  which  "  brought  hope  out  of 
despair."  This  mere  accident,  which  all  the 
historians  mention,  and  to  which  Washington 
himself  alludes  as  a  Providential  occurrence, 
but  without  mentioning  au}^  names,  was  the  cap- 
ture of  an  Indian  from  whom  the  true  situation 
of  affairs  at  Fort  Du  Quesne  was  learned.  But 
although  this  mere  accident,  or,  in  other  words, 
this  event  of  absolutely  vital  importance  to  the 
success  of  this  formidable  expedition,  which 
established  English  supremacy  in  the  South, 
is  carefull}^  recorded,  the  person  who  was  so 
fortunate  as  to  accomplish  this  mere  accident 
is  as  carefull}^  ignored,  to-wit,  Sergeant  John 
Rogers  of  1*he  North  Carolina  forces.  It  was 
a  little  thing  to  do,  perhaps,  but  Forbes  con- 
sidered the  importance  of  doing  it  so  great  that 
he  offered  a  reward  of  fifty  guineas,  and 
another  officer  offered  a  reward  of  four  hun- 
dred guineas'^'  to  au}^  one  who  would  take  an 
Indian  prisoner,  so  that  they  might  get  infor- 

*Petition  of  John  Rogers  to  the  Assembly.   Colonial  Records 
of  N.  C,  Vol.  VI,  384. 


62  A  Colonial  Officer 

mation  of  the  enem3'''s  movements.  Rogers 
accomplished  it  at  the  hazard  of  his  life,  and 
from  the  prisoner  captured  by  him  it  was 
ascertained  that  the  garrison  at  Fort  Du  Quesne 
were  onl}^  waiting  the  appearance  of  the  British 
when  they  would  withdraw,  and  thereupon  the 
light  troops  made  a  forced  march  and  the 
enemy  burned  and  abandoned  the  fort. 

General  Forbes  died  without  paying  or  pro- 
viding for  the  payment  of  the  reward  to  Rogers, 
but  the  Assembly  of  North  Carolina  allowed 
him  twenty  pounds  for  his  gallantry. 

Major  Waddell  himself  "dressed  and  acted 
as  an  Indian"  on  this  expedition,  according 
to  Governor  Dobbs's  statement,  and  a  tradition 
in  his  family  says  that  a  large  dog  belonging 
to  him  was  the  first  living  creature  that  entered 
Fort  Du  Quesne  after  the  French  evacuated  it. 

After  the  fall  of  the  fort  all --the  troops, 
except  enough  to  garrison  it,  returned  to  their 
homes,  including  the  North  Carolinians. 

But  the  French,  who  retired  from  Fort  Du 
Quesne  and  moved  farther  southward,  very 
soon  had  an  opportunity  to  retaliate,  and  form 
an  alliance  with  the  very  same  Cherokees  who 
had  been  co-operating  with  the  English.  This 
was  the  result   of  an  unfortunate,  and,  as  it 


^And  His  Timks.  63 

turned   out,  a  cruel   act  on    the  part  of  some 
\'irginians. 

The  Cherokees  had  aided  the  British  on 
every  expedition  against  Fort  Dn  Quesne, 
strictly  adhering  in  this  respect  to  their  treaty 
obligations ;  and  it  was  on  the  return  of  the 
warriors  from  this  final  expedition  that  the 
unfortunate  occurrence  referred  to  took  place. 
They  were  passing  through  the  extreme  fron- 
tier settlements  of  Virginia,  and  finding  some 
horses  running  wild  in  the  woods — as  was  the 
case  everywhere  on  the  frontiers — they  took 
some  of  them  to  supply  the  places  of  those 
they  had  lost  on  the  expedition,  "  never  im- 
agining," as  is  said  by  Hewat,  "that  they 
belonged  to  any  individual  in  the  Province." 
Thereupon  some  Virginians,  without  attempt- 
ing any  other  process  of  redress,  attacked  them 
with  arms  and  killed  twelve  or  fourteen  of 
the  unsuspecting  warriors  and  took  others 
prisoners.  The  Cherokees  were  naturally 
incensed  at  such  an  ungrateful  and  cruel 
return  from  the  people  whose  soil  they  had 
marched  several  hundred  miles  to  defend,  and 
when  they  reached  their  homes  at  once  told 
what  had  happened.     The  result  was  an  out- 


64  A  Colonial  Officer 

burst  of  fury,  especially  among  the  young 
warriors  who  were  kinsmen  of  the  victims; 
and  the  emissaries  of  the  French,  who  were 
among  them,  added  fuel  to  the  flame  of  their 
resentment  b}^  telling  them  that  the  British 
intended  to  kill  all  their  warriors  and  to  reduce 
all  their  women  and  children  to  slavery.  These 
emissaries  roused  their  vengeance  in  ever}^ 
way  and  supplied  them  with  arms  and  ammu- 
nition. Fort  Loudon,  on  the  Tennessee,  where 
there  was  a  garrison  of  200  men  under  Cap- 
tains Demere  and  Stuart,  was  one  of  the  first 
objects  of  their  vengeance,  and  hunting  parties 
and  stragglers  from  that  post  were  attacked 
and  killed.  Descents  were  made  upon  the 
settlements  and  the  inhabitants  were  murdered 
and  scalped.  Fort  Loudon  was  cut  off  from 
supplies  and  the  garrison  was  in  danger  of 
starvation.'^' 

The  news  of  the  Cherokee  outbreak  soon 
spread  and  reached  Fort  Prince  George,  near 
the  upper  Savannah  river,  whose  commanding' 
officer  notified  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina. 
Governor  Dobbs  was  also  notified,  and  at  once 
ordered  Waddell,  who  had  been  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  Colonel,  to  take  all  the  Provincial 

*Carr,  Coll.  I,  444. 


And  His  Times.  65 

troops,  and  all  the  militia  of  Orange,  Anson 
and  Rowan  Connties,  who  conld  be  properly 
armed,  and  rendezvous  at  Fort  Prince  George 
in  conjunction  with  an  expedition  fitted  out  by 
Governor  L-yttleton,  of  South  Carolina  and 
numbering  about  1,400  men.  The  militia 
refused  to  march  against  the  Cherokees,  upon 
the  ground  that  they  were  not  bound  to  serve 
out  of  the  limits  of  the  Province.  Colonel 
Waddell  notified  Governor  Dobbs  of  this,  and 
sent  him,  by  the  same  express,  a  letter  he  had 
received  from  Governor  Lyttleton.  Dobbs 
appealed  to  the  Assembly,  then  in  session 
(Nov.  26th,  1759),  and  asked  them  tQ  "pass  a 
short  bill  to  explain  and  enforce  the  militia 
law,  and  oblige  the  militia  to  act  where  ordered 
for  the  public  good  and  the  defence  of  the 
Province."  On  the  29th  November  the  Assem- 
bly ordered  about  a  thousand  pounds  to  be 
given  to  Colonel  Waddell  to  buy  wagons,  &c., 
and  a  resolution  was  passed  "that  the  forces 
now  in  the  pay  of  this  Province,  and  the  militia 
thereof,  not  to  exceed  500  men,"  be  kept  in 
pay  until  the  loth  February,  if  necessary,  and 
appropriated  five  thousand  pounds  therefor. 

The  Cherokees  were  overawed  by  this  dis- 
play of  force  and  begged  for  peace.  Another 
treaty  was   made  with   them,  one  of  the  pro- 


66  A  Colonial  Officer 

visions  of  which  required  them  to  leave  twenty- 
four  hostages,  to  secure  the  delivery  of  twen- 
ty-four Indians  who  had  murdered  the  same 
number  of  whites  since  the  former  treaty. 

Governor  Lyttleton  very  unwisely  withdrew 
his  forces,  leaving  only  a  small  guard  over  the 
hostages,  and  the  result  was  an  attempt  by 
the  Indians  to  surprise  the  garrison  and  rescue 
the  hostages  on  the  27th  Januar^^  1760.'-'  They 
failed,  but  they  murdered  some  traders  and 
held  the  fort  under  a  close  blockade  for  some 
time. 

Colonel  Waddell's  force  had  been  reduced 
after  the  treaty,  but,  upon  a  new  outbreak  of 
the  Indians,  he  re-garrisoned  Fort  Dobbs  and, 
under  instructions,  put  five  hundred  militia 
on  duty  to  protect  the  frontiers.  He  was 
attacked  by  the  Indians  at  Fort  Dobbs  on  the 
evening  of  the  27th  February,  the  assault 
being  made  by  two  parties,  but  he  repulsed 
them,  killing  ten  or  twelve,  and  lost  onl}-  one 
boy  killed  and  two  men  wounded,  one  of  whom 
was  scalped. f     He  expected  an  attack  the  next 


*Williainson,  Vol.  II,  93.     Carr,  Col.  I,  451. 

tHis  name  was  Robert  Campbell,  and  he  was  allowed  by  the 
Assembly  twenty  pounds  for  "present  subsistence."  CoL 
Rec,  Vol.  VI,  422. 


And  His  Times.  67 

night,  but  the  Indians  had  enough  of  it  and 
did  not  make  another  attempt. 

Whether  Colonel  Waddell  was  with  the 
expedition  of  Colonel  Montgomery  and  Major 
Grant  which  invaded  the  Cherokee  country 
and  fouo-ht  an  indecisive  battle  in  the  Etchoe 
settlement,  near  the  present  town  of  Franklin, 
on  the  27th  June,  is  uncertain.  The  retreat 
of  IMontgomery  to  Fort  Prince  George  caused 
the  surrender  of  Fort  Loudon,  which  was  fol- 
lowed b}^  treachery  and  murder  by  the  Indians. 

In  the  fall,  however,  Colonel  Waddell  was 
ordered  to  join  Colonel  Byrd,  of  Virginia,  in 
striking  the  upper  Cherokees,  but  the  latter 
made  peace  and  he  discharged  his  troops. 

Thus  the  first  five  years  after  his  arrival  in 
the  Province  were  passed  by  Colonel  Waddell 
chiefly  in  the  field  in  active  service  against  the 
French  and  Indians. 

There  is  no  record  of  any  special  service 
rendered  by  him  between  the  years  1 760  and 
1765,  except  that  which  he  performed  during 
the  sessions  of  the  Assembly,  of  which  body 
he  was  a  prominent  and  useful  member.  As 
the  population  of  the  Province  was  steadily 
increasing,  especially  in  the  Western  portion, 
and  the  Indian  depredations  were  gradually 
ceasing,  until  the  peace  between  Great  Britain 


6S  A  Colonial  Officer 

and  France  in  1763  put  a  stop  to  them  entirely, 
it  is  most  probable  that  he  was  relieved  from 
active  dnt3%  and  began  to  utilize  the  advan- 
tages, which  his  experience  and  knowledge  of 
the  country  gave  him,  by  judicious  investments 
in  lands,  and  the  establishment  of  "  stores  " 
in  various  places  in  the  back  country,  where 
the  certainty  of  large  profits  awaited  such 
ventures.  That  he  did  this  about  that  time, 
and  that  he  was  largely  interested  in  the  mer- 
cantile firm  of  John  Burgwin  &  Co.,  and 
realized  handsome  profits  from  the  business,  is 
known.  He  married  in  1762,  and  Mr.  Bur- 
gwin's  association  with  him  in  business  was 
attributable  to  the  fact  that  their  wives  were 
sisters  and  co-heiresses. 

Governor  Dobbs,  who  was  about  seventy 
3'ears  old  when  he  was  appointed  Governor, 
because  of  his  age,  his  infirmities  of  tempera- 
ment, and  his  ultra  lo3^alty  and  unreasonable 
ideas  in  regard  to  prerogative,  had  not  only 
irritated  and  disgusted  the  people,  but  had 
worn  out  the  patience  of  his  best  friends;  and, 
in  October,  1764,  Lieutenant  Colonel  William 
Tryon,  of  the  Queen's  Guards,  was  sent  over 
and  qualified  as  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the 
Province  at  Wilmington. 

In  the    following    JMarch,  Governor    Dobbs 


And  His  Times.  69 

died,  in  his  Sad  year,  and  was  bnried  on  his 
plantation  on  Town  Creek,  below  Wilmington. 
He  had  obtained  a  leave  of  absence,  and 
intended  going  to  England  when  death  over- 
took him. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Halifax,  dated 
April  2d,  1765,  at  Wilmington,  Try  on  writes 
as  follows: 

"Last  Thnrsday  Governor  Dobbs  retired 
from  the  strife  and  cares  of  this  world.  Two 
days  before  his  death  he  was  busily  employed 
in  packing  up  his  books  for  his  passage  to 
England.  His  physician  had  no  other  means 
to  prevent  his  fatiguing  himself  than  by  telling 
him  he  had  better  prepare  himself  for  a  much 
longer  voyage." 

The  poor  old  man  departed  at  a  good  time 
for  himself,  and,  doubtless,  at  a  convenient 
season  for  his  lively  and  handsome  young 
widow,  who,  not  long  afterwards,  consoled 
herself  with  a  new  and  younger  husband,  who 
was  also  destined,  but  under  ver}^  different 
auspices,  to  be  Governor  of  North  Carolina, 
namely,  Abner  Nash. 

Governor  Dobbs  was  a  widower  when  he 
came  to  North  Carolina,  and  he  came  solely 
for  the  purpose  of  improving  his  fortunes  and 
providing  for  his  near  relatives — objects  in  the 


yo  A   Colonial  Officer 

pursuit  of  which  he  cannot  be  accused  of  a 
want  of  diligence. 

By  his  first  marriage  he  had  two  sons  and 
two  daughters,  none  of  whom,  except  his 
3^ounger  son,  accompanied  him  to  this  countr}-. 
His  oldest  son,  Conway  Richard  Dobbs,  became 
High  Sheriff  of  County  Antrim,  and  the  family 
seat,  called  Castle  Dobbs,  is  still  in  the  pos- 
session of  his  descendants.'''  His  second  son, 
Edward  Brice  Dobbs,  was  appointed  Captain 
of  the  North  Carolina  company  sent  on  Brad- 
dock's  expedition  ;  was  afterwards,  in  the  New 
York  expedition,  made  a  Major;  was  a  member 
of  the  Council  of  North  Carolina  in  1757,  and 
in  1767  signed  himself  "Captain  in  H.  M.'s 
7th  Regt  of  Foot  or  Royal  Fusiliers." 

Governor  Dobbs's  second  wife  was  Justina 
Davis,  a  daughter  of  John  Davis,  Esq.,  a 
planter  living  near  Brunswick,  on  Cape  Fear 
River.  They  had  no  child,  and  after  Dobbs's 
death  she  married  Abner  Nash,  who  was  a 
Major  in  the  Revolution — a  brother  of  General 
Francis  Nash,  who  was  killed  at  Germantown — 
was  afterwards  Governor  of  North  Carolina, 
and  was  the  father  of  the  late  Chief  Justice 
Nash. 

*Dinwiddie  Papers. 


And  His  TimKvS.  71 

When  the  trouble  arose  about  the  attacli- 
ment  law  of  the  Province,  which,  like  the 
attachment  laws  of  several  other  Provinces, 
gave  a  resident  creditor  advantage  over  all 
others  by  subjecting  the  property  of  non-resi- 
dent debtors  to  seizure  for  the  satisfaction  of 
such  resident  creditor's  claim,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing cases  arising  under  the  act  was  that  of 
Abner  Nash  against  the  Dobbs  estate,  in  1773, 
in  which  an  attachment  had  been  levied  on 
the  interest  of  Dobbs's  son,  who  lived  in  Ire- 
land, to  satisfy  a  legacy  of  ^2,000  left  bj- 
Dobbs's  will  to  his  widow.  The  case  went 
before  the  Privy  Council  and  the  plaintiff 
gained  it. 

Governor  Dobbs  also  brought  over  with  him 
his  nephew,  Richard  Spaight,  who  was  made 
paymaster  to  the  North  Carolina  forces  in 
Braddock's  expedition,  was  Secretary  of  the 
Province  in  1756,  and  a  member  of  the  Council. 
He  was  the  father  of  Richard  Dobbs  Spaight, 
who  was  Governor  of  North  Carolina  in  1792, 
and  who  was  killed  in  a  duel  by  John  Stanh- 
in  1802,  and  was  the  grandfather  of  the  second 
Richard  Dobbs  Spaight,  who  was  also  Gov- 
ernor in  1834. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  Dobbs's  adminis- 


72  A  Colonial  Officer 

istration,  Colonel  Waddell  appears  to  have 
been  the  most  prominent  militar}-  fignre  in 
the  Province,  and  to  have  enjo3^ed  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  both  authorities  and  people 
in  a  high  degree. 


And  His  Times.  73 

CHAPTER  HI. 

1765. 


Tryon  Becomes  Governor — His  Character  and  Conduct— The 
Stamp  Act— Arrival  of  the  Sloop  of  War  Diligence  at 
Brunswick — Colonel  Waddell,  with  Colonel  Ashe  and 
others,  Resists  the  Landing  of  the  Stamps. 

UPON  the  death  of  Governor  Dobbs,  Tryon 
succeeded  to  the  Governorship  and  quali- 
fied on  the  3d  April,  1765. 

He  was  an  accomplished  man  of  the  world 
and  a  gallant  soldier,  but  he  was  also  vain  and 
imperious.  He  still  retained  his  rank  in  the 
British  army  and  his  place  in  the  regular  line 
of  promotion,  and  he  was  ambitious  of  distinc- 
tion in  the  administration  of  a  Colonial  gov- 
ernment in  which  there  had  been,  for  many 
years,  continual  disagreement  between  the 
Assembly  and  his  predecessors,  and  growing 
dissatisfaction  among  the  people  with  their 
local  civil  officers. 

So  far  as  their  relations  with  the  Crown  were 

concerned,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province  of 

North  Carolina  were  as  loyal  as  its  most  loyal 

subjects  anywhere,  but  they  had,  particularly 

6 


74  A  Colonial   Officer 

in  the  Western  part  of  the  ^tProvince,  been 
anno3'ed,  irritated  and  oppressed  b}^  the  petty 
frauds  and  extortions  practiced  upon  them  bv 
entry-takers,  deput}'  surveyors,  land  agents 
and  court  officers,  and  by  the  failure,  in  mau}- 
cases,  of  their  own  Assembl}-  to  provide  ade- 
quate remedies  for  these  evils. 

The  character  of  Governor  Tr3'on  was  totally 
different  from  that  of  Governor  Dobbs.  He 
was  more  adroit  and  conciliatory,  and  while 
cherishing  high  ideas  of  prerogative,  was 
free  from  the  little  infirmities  which  age  had 
only  emphasized  in  Dobbs.  He  was  pas- 
sionate, but  his  passion  was  under  control ;  he 
was  young  and  vigorous,  but — bej^ond  a  desire 
to  displa}'  some  "pomp  and  circumstance," 
and  to  live  luxuriousl}- — was  not  disposed  to 
harry  or  oppress  the  people.  His  appoint- 
ment to  the  ofhce  of  Governor  was,  however, 
made  at  an  unfortunate  time  for  himself.  The 
Stamp  Act,  a  veritable  Pandora's  box,  and  the 
most  far-reaching  legislative  blunder  in  the 
histor}'  of  England,  was  passed  by  Parliament 
and  received  the  Ro3'al  sanction  about  a  fort- 
night before  he  qualified  as  Dobbs's  successor,'"" 

*The  vStanip  Act  was  approved  March  22fl,  and  he  qualified 
April  3d. 


And  His  Timhs.  75 

and  the  news  of  its  passage,  which  had  been 
anticipated,  was  not  long  in  getting  to  America. 

Before  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  the 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain  had,  in  1764,  for 
the  first  time,'"  nndertaken  to  appropriate  the 
propert}'  of  American  snbjects  to  the  pnrpose 
of  increasing  the  revennes  of  the  Crown  b}- 
imposing  a  duty  on  sugar,  coffee,  wine  and 
other  articles  of  foreign  growth  imported  into 
the  Colonies.  Finding  that  there  w^as  still  a 
deficit  in  the  revenues,  after  the  imposition  of 
these  duties  on  foreign  imports,  and  in  pur- 
suance of  a  previously  declared  purpose,  the}- 
passed  the  Stamp  Act  in  1765. 

This  act,  which  has  alread}^  been  character- 
ized as  the  most  far-reaching  legislative  blun- 
der in  the  history  of  England,  was  the  pet 
project  of  George  Grenville,  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  who  had  adopted  the  plan  of  taxa- 
tion from  Lord  Bute,  to  whom  it  had  been  sug- 
gested b}-  Jenkinson. 

The  act,  which  contained  fift3-five  sections, 
provided  an  elaborate  S3'Steni  of  stamp  duties 
for  the  Colonies,  and  all  offences  against  its 
provisions  were  made  cognizable  in  the  Courts 
of  Admiralt}',  in  which  there  were  no  juries, 
"so  that  the  Americans  w^ere  not  onl}-  to  be 

^Bancroft,  Vol.  V,  i88. 


76  A  Colonial  Officer 

taxed  by  the  British  Parliament,  but  to  have 
the  taxes  collected  arbitraril}-,  under  the  decree 
of  British  Judges,  without  any  trial  by  jur3^'"•' 

In  introducing  the  measure,  Grenville  made 
an  adroit  and  plausible  speech,  as  he  had  done 
when,  unfolding  the  budget  of  the  previous 
year,  he  gave  notice  of  his  intention  to  bring 
in  the  present  bill;  but  he  did  not  find  the 
same  unanimity  in  favor  of  the  latter,  for 
while  there  was  no  debate  and  not  one  negative 
on  the  passage  of  the  bill  of  1764,  the  Stamp 
Act  was  debated  for  some  time  with  much 
animation,  and,  on  its  final  passage,  forty -two 
votes  were  recorded  against  it,  to  two  hundred 
and  ninety-four  in  its  favor. 

The  opponents  of  the  bill,  however,  almost 
without  exception,  admitted  the  power  of  Par- 
liament to  pass  the  measure,  although  its  con- 
stitutionality was  as  bitterly  denied  in  the 
Colonies  as  the  injustice  of  its  provisions,  and 
the  utter  inability  of  the  people  to  comply  with 
them  was  earnestly  asserted.  The  measure 
was  not  only  a  new  one,  but  threatened  ruin 
to  the  Colonies.  It  was  an  internal  revenue 
bill,  exclusively  applicable  to  the  Colonies, 
which  were  without  representation  in  the  body 

*Bancroft  (quoting  Walpole),  Vol.  V,  156. 


And  His  TimEvS.  77 

that  enacted  it,  and  it  clogged  every  trans- 
action of  a  business  nature  requiring  the  use 
of  paper,  and  taxed  the  privilege  of  publishing, 
advertising  in,  or  reading  newspapers,  pam- 
phlets and  other  publications.  The  tax,  too, 
was  not  onl}^  imposed  upon  a  multiplicit}^  of 
objects,  but  was  very  heavy  on  each.  The 
cheapest  stamp  was  one  shilling.  It  taxed 
knowledge  as  well  as  business.  The  tax 
on  a  college  diploma  was  ten  dollars,  and 
on  an  advertisement  in  a  newspaper  fifty  cents. 
In  the  same  proportion  every  written  contract 
for  the  sale  of  property,  every  deed,  every  bill 
of  sale,  bond,  note,  bill  of  exchange,  or  other 
instrument  used  in  business  transactions,  and 
each  separate  paper  used  in  legal  proceedings 
from  the  beginning  of  a  suit  to  the  end,  had  to 
pay  a  stamp  tax.  An  amusing  but  fair  illus- 
tration of  the  effect  of  it  was  afforded  when 
Governor  Trj^on,  on  the  21st  December,  1765, 
submitted  to  the  Council  the  question  whether 
he  could  issue  writs  of  election  for  the  new 
Assembl}^  on  unstamped  paper. 

There  was  alread}^  the  impost  duty  on  all 
the  luxuries  (including  under  this  head  such 
articles  as  coffee  and  sugar);  there  was  the  tax 
involved  in  the  enforcement  of  the  Navigation 
Act,    which,  Bancroft    says,  "was    the    head- 


yS  A  Colonial  Officer 

spring  that  colored  all  the  stream  of  American 
Independence,"  and  these  taxes  were  outside 
of  the  taxes  imposed  by  the  Colonial  Legisla- 
tures for  the  purposes  of  local  government. 

So  that,  in  the  impoverished  condition  of  the 
people,  and  amidst  the  trials  and  dangers 
that  surrounded  them,  it  looked  like  the  ver}' 
wantonness  of  tyranny  to  add  a  stamp  tax  to 
their  burdens.  It  was,  besides,  as  the  Colo- 
nists and  some  of  the  wiser  English  statesmen 
insisted,  an  unconstitutional  measure. 

Daniel  Dulaney,  of  Maryland,  a  lawyer 
whose  ability  in  discussing  the  question  pro- 
foundl}'  impressed  the  public  mind,  both  in 
England  and  America,  and  whose  opinions 
were  thought  to  have  moulded  those  of  Mr. 
Pitt,  by  whom  they  were  publicly  noticed  with 
great  honor,  argued  the  rights  of  both  parties 
with  minute  and  elaborate  learning,  and  his 
powerful  reasoning  strengthened  the  convic- 
tion of  his  countrymen  that  in  opposing  the 
act  they  were  but  vindicating  their  rights  and 
defending  their  liberties.  George  Washington, 
in  a  letter  to  Francis  Dandridge,  in  London, 
dated  Mount  Vernon,  September  20th,  1765, 
says:  "The  Stamp  Act  imposed  on  the  Colo- 
nies by  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain, 
engrosses  the  conversation  of  the  speculative 


And  His  Timks.  79 

part  of  the  Colonists,  who  look  upon  this  iin- 
coiistitutioiial  method  of  taxation  as  a  direful 
attack  upon  their  liberties,  and  loudly  exclaim 
against  the  violation;"  and  he  proceeds  to 
show  that,  merely  as  a  revenue  scheme,  the  act 
and  other  ill-judged  measures  must  prove  dis- 
astrous to  Great  Britain,  inasmuch  as  they 
would  necessaril}'  lessen  importations  into  the 
Colonies,  and  thereb}-  hurt  her  manufacturers, 
declaring  at  the  same  time  that  the  Colonists 
would  dispense  wnth  all  luxuries  and  live  on 
the  necessaries  which,  he  said,  "are  mostly  to 
be  had  within  ourselves."  He  also  declared 
that  the  passage  of  the  act  would  inevitably 
close  the  Courts,  as  the  Colonists  could  not 
possibly  comply  with  its  provisions,  and  that 
if  such  a  result  followed,  the  merchants  of 
Great  Britain,  trading  to  the  Colonies,  "  would 
not  be  among  the  last  to  wish  for  a  repeal  of 
the  act."'^'  How  much  these  merchants  of 
Great  Britain  were  interested  in  the  matter, 
will  appear  from  the  following  extract  from 
William  Cullen  Bryant's  recentl}'  published 
Popular  History  of  the  United  States  :f 

"It  is  said  that  between  1765  and  1775,  two- 


*\Vashington's  Letters,  Vol.  II,  343. 
tVol.  in,  331- 


8o  A  Colonial  Officer 

thirds  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  Great  Britain 
was  that  which  she  conducted  with  America. 
Between  1700  and  1760,  the  value  of  property 
in  England  increased  fifty  per  cent.,  and  Pitt 
declared  this  was  wholl}^  due  to  the  American 
Colonies.  Speaking  in  1766,  he  said,  'The 
profit  to  Great  Britain  from  the  Colonies  is 
two  millions  a  year.  This  is  the  fund  that 
carried  you  triumphantly  through  the  last  war. 
You  owe  this  to  America.'  Let  it  be  remem- 
bered that  Great  Britain  supplied  three  millions 
of  people  in  America  with  almost  every  manu- 
factured article  which  the}^  needed ;  that  she 
received  from  her  Colonies  the  tobacco,  and 
much  of  the  fish,  indigo,  rice,  naval  stores,  and 
other  productions  which  she  required;  that 
with  her  growing  strength  in  the  West  Indies, 
she  used  her  Colonies  on  the  main-land  to  feed 
her  islands,  and  it  will  be  understood  that 
English  merchants,  and  those  who  had  to  deal 
with  them  in  England,  conceived  high  ideas  of 
the  wealth  to  be  derived  from  America." 

It  will,  therefore,  at  once  be  seen  from  this 
statement,  which  is  amply  verified  b}-  all  the 
authorities,  that  the  Stamp  Act  was  stupid  and 
suicidal  legislation,  which  provoked  resistance, 
as  well  for  commercial  as  for  political  reasons, 
both  in  Great  Britain  and  in  the  Colonies. 
But  the  commercial  reasons  were  the  least  pow- 
erful in  the  Colonies.      It   was  the   attempt  to 


And  His  Times.  8i 

subvert  their  liberties  which,  if  submitted  to, 
would  onl}^  lead  to  further  aggressious,  that 
roused  the  Americans  to  fury  and  united  them 
in  a  determination  to  resist  the  enforcement  of 
the  act  with  all  their  power  and  at  ever}^  hazard  ; 
and,  therefore,  when  certain  intelligence  of 
the  final  passage  of  it  came,  it  produced  a  storm 
of  angr}^  opposition,  and  nowhere  more  than 
in  North  Carolina. 

Tryon,  in  a  letter  to  Conway,  hereinafter 
given  in  full,  says: 

"In  obedience  to  his  Majestj^'s  commands, 
communicated  to  me  b}^  the  honor  of  your 
letter  of  the  12th  of  July  last,  it  is  with  con- 
cern I  acquaint  you  that  the  obstruction  to  the 
Stamp  Act  passed  last  session  of  Parliament, 
has  been  as  general  in  this  Province  as  in  au}' 
Colon}'  on  the  continent." 

And  in  all  his  letters  to  the  home  govern- 
ment he  reiterates  the  statement  in  the  strong- 
est language. 

The  first  Assembly  after  Tryon's  accession 
had  met  on  the  3d  of  May  at  Wilmington,  and 
it  w^as  immediatel}'  after  their  meeting,  and 
before  they  had  passed  more  than  one  or  two 
acts,  that  intelligence  of  the  passage  of  the 
Stamp  x^ct  by  Parliament  reached  them.   Tr3'on 


82  A  Colonial  Officer 

knew  what  the  popular  sentiment  was,  and  in 
order  to  ascertain  what  would  be  the  probable 
action  of  the  Assembly,  he  had  an  interview 
with  the  Speaker,  John  Ashe,  and  asked  him 
tlie  question. 

Ashe's  reply  was,  that  the  act  "  would  be 
resisted  to  blood  and  death."  Thereupon 
Tryon  immediately  issued  a  proclamation"' 
proroguing  the  Assembly  to  meet  at  Newbern 
November  30th.*  He  did  not  reall}^  intend, 
however,  that  it  should  re-assemble  at  that 
time  unless  the  storm  blew  over;  and  after- 
wards, finding  matters  growing  worse,  he 
issued  another  proclamation ,t  again  proroguing 
the  Assembly  until  March  12th,  assigning  as 
a  reason  that  there  appeared  to  be  no  imme^ 
diate  necessity  for  their  meeting  in  November. 
This  proroguing  of  the  Assembly  on  the  iSth 
May,  and  again  October  25th,  prevented  the 
election  of  delegates  from  North  Carolina  to 
what  is  known  in  history  as  the  Stamp  Act 
Congress — an  explanation  of  the  absence  of 
such  delegates  which  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  known  to  the  writers  who  have  igno- 
rantly  criticised  the  State  for  a  want  of  spirit 


*May  iSth,  1765. 
tOctober  2;lh. 


And  His  Times.  83 

at  that  time.  But,  although  the  Assembly 
was  thus  preveuted  from  meetiug  aud  giving 
expression  to  the  public  feeling,  the  people 
were  not,  and  Colonel  Hugh  Waddell,  though 
carrying  the  King's  commission  in  his  pocket, 
was  one  of  the  first  to  take  the  lead  at  Wil- 
mington in  denouncing  the  Act,  and  express- 
ing a  determination  to  resist  it,  in  resolutions 
passed  at  public  meetings  held  under  the  very 
nose  of  the  Governor.  These  meetings  were 
held  in  the  summer  of  1765,  and  were  a  part 
of  the  proceedings  then  going  on  in  all  the 
Colonies  looking  to  the  same  end.  But  an 
event  was  soon  to  occur  which — unknown  to 
or  ignored  by  some  historians,  and  fixed  at  a 
wrong  date  by  others — placed  North  Carolina 
at  the  head  of  the  Colonies  as  offering  the  first 
armed  resistance  to  the  operation  of  the  Stamp 
Act  in  America.  In  the  other  Colonies  the 
feeling  of  resistance  was  as  strong,  and  the 
demonstrations  by  the  people  were  as  earnest ; 
but  although  flags  were  half-masted,  effigies 
burned,  processions  formed,  and  stamp-masters 
forced  to  resign,  710  open.,  anned  resistance  to 
an  armed  force  occurred^  except  on  the  Cape 
Fear  River. 

This  occurrence  took  place  when  the  sloop 


84  A  Colonial  Officer 

of  war  Diligence  arrived  at  Fort  Johnston  (now 
Southport)  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  with  the 
stamps.  The  arrival  of  the  Diligence  is,  in  all 
the  histories  except  Moore's,  stated  to  have 
occurred  "in  the  first  of  the  year,"  or  "  earl}^ 
in  the  year"  1766 — an  error  arising  from  the 
fact  that  Tryon's  proclamation  announcing 
her  arrival  was  dated  January  6th  of  that  year. 
Moore's  history  places  her  arrival  on  the  28th 
September,  1765.  The  true  date  was  Novem- 
ber 28th,  1765. 

On  the  1 6th  day  of  November,*  the  people, 
under  the  lead  of  Colonel  John  Ashe  and 
others,  went  to  Tryon's  house  and  demanded 
William  Houston  (not  James  Houston,  as 
invariably  stated  in  every  published  account 
of  the  affair),  who  had  been  appointed  stamp- 
master,  and  upon  Tryon's  refusal  to  surrender 
him  they  made  preparations  to  burn  the  house. 
Tryon  then  requested  Colonel  Ashe  to  step  in 
and  talk  with  the  stamp-master,  which  he  did, 
and  Houston,  realizing  his  danger  if  he  refused 
the  demand  made  upon  him  to  resign  his  office, 
agreed  to  accompan}-  Colonel  Ashe  to  the 
street,  and,  escorted  thence  b}^  a  large  crowd, 
they  went   to  the  Court-House   and   there,  in 


*Tryon's  letter  to  Hon.  Seymour  Conway,  Feb.  29,  1766. 


And  His  Times.  85 

the  presence  of  the  Mayor  and  public  officers, 
Houston  took  and  subscribed  the  following 
oath : 

"  I  do  hereby  promise  that  I  never  will 
receive  any  stamp-paper  which  may  arrive 
from  Europe,  in  consequence  of  any  act  lately 
passed  in  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  nor 
officiate  in  any  manner  as  stamp-master  in  the 
distribution  of  stamps  within  the  Province  of 
North  Carolina,  either  directly  or  indirectly. 
I  do  hereby  notify  all  the  inhabitants  of  His 
Majesty's  Province  of  North  Carolina,  that 
notwithstanding  my  having  received  informa- 
tion of  my  being  appointed  to  said  office  of 
stamp-master,  I  will  not  apply  hereafter  for  any 
stamp-paper,  or  to  distribute  the  same  until 
such  time  as  it  shall  be  agreeable  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  this  Province. 

'*  Hereby  declaring  that  I  do  execute  these 
presents  of  my  own  free  will  and  accord,  with- 
out any  equivocation  or  mental  reservation 
whatever. 

"In  witness  hereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my 
hand  this  i6th  November,  1765.  ^ 

"William  Houston.'""' 

Upon  the  taking  and  signing  the  oath  by 
Houston,  the  crowd  gave  three  cheers  and  then 
dispersed. 

*Tryon's  dispatch,  Dec.  26th. 


86  A  Colonial  Officer 

Twelve  days  afterward  the  />///f'r//rr  arrived 
in  the  Cape  Fear  river  with  the  stamps,  and 
the  welcome  which  awaited  her  captain  must 
have  astonished  him.  His  name  was  Phipps, 
and  his  vessel  was  a  twenty-gun  sloop  of  war, 
which  was  cruising  off  the  coast  of  Virginia 
and  the  Carolinas.  He  brought  the  stamps 
from  \'irginia,  whither  they  had  been  sent 
from  England,  and,  doubtless,  anticipated  no 
trouble  whatever  in  delivering  them  to  the 
Collector  of  the  port  of  Brunswick.  The  idea 
of  resistance  of  au}'  kind  probably  never 
occurred  to  him,  and  a  suggestion  of  armed 
defiance  on  the  part  of  the  people  on  shore 
would  have  seemed  the  wildest  absurdity  to  a 
commander  of  one  of  His  Majesty's  war-ships. 

Comfortably  pacing  his  deck  as  the  gallant 
sloop,  with  colors  flying  and  all  her  canvass 
set,  glided  curtseying  across  the  bar  like  a 
fine  lady  entering  a  drawing-room,  the  Captain 
was  doubtless  already  enjoying  in  anticipation 
the  sideboard  and  table  refreshments  that 
awaited  him  in  the  hospitable  mansions  of  the 
Cape  Fear  planters,  and  eager  to  stand,  gun 
in  hand,  by  one  of  the  tall  pines  of  Brunswick 
and  watch  the  coming  of  the  antlered  monarch 
of  the  forest  before  the  inspiring  music  of  the 
hounds. 


And  His  Times.  87 

As  the  Dilioour  bowls  along  ''with  a  bone 
ill  her  mouth  ''  across  the  ruffled  bosom  of  the 
beautiful  bay  into  which  the  river  expands 
opposite  Fort  Johnston,  a  puff  of  white  smoke 
leaps  from  her  port  quarter  followed  by  a  roar 
of  salutation  from  one  of  her  guns  ;  an  answer- 
ing thunder  of  welcome  comes  from  the  fort, 
and  the  proud  ship  walks  the  waters  towards 
the  town  of  Brunswick,  eight  miles  farther  up 
the  river  towards  Wilmington.  An  hour  later 
she  sights  the  town,  and  a  little  while  after- 
wards, with  a  graceful  sweep  and  a  rushing 
keel,  she  gradualh'  puts  her  nose  in  the  wind 
as  if  scenting  trouble;  and  then,  at  the  shrill 
sound  of  the  boatswain's  whistle,  the  growling 
chains  release  the  anchor  from  its  long  sus- 
pense, and  the  Diligence  rests  opposite  to  the 
Custom  House  of  Brunswick,  with  her  grin- 
ning port-holes  open  and  all  her  guns  exposed. 
Then  her  rigging  blocks  chuckle  as  she  lowers 
and  clews  her  sails,  and  she  rides  at  her  moor- 
ings beneath  the  flag  of  the  Mistress  of  the 
Seas. 

The  Captain  at  once  observes  that  the  little 
town  seems  to  be  unusuall}'  lively  and  expect- 
ant. He  soon  discovers  the  cause.  A  con- 
siderable bod}^  of  armed  men  occupy  the  streets 
and  line  the  shore.      Presentl}'  he  is  informed 


88  A  Colonial  Officer 

that  Colonel  Hugh  Waddell,  an  experienced 
soldier,  who  had  been  on  the  lookout  for  the 
Diligence  with  the  militia  of  Brunswick  County, 
had  notified  Colonel  Ashe  of  New  Hanover  of 
his  movements,  and  these  two  gentlemen,  with 
the  armed  militia  of  both  counties,  confronted 
him  and  informed  him  that  they  would  resist 
the  landing  of  the  stamps  and  would  fire  on 
any  one  attempting  it. 

Here  was  one  of  His  Majesty's  twenty-gun 
sloops  of  war  openly  defied  and  threatened  by 
British  subjects  armed  and  drawn  up  in  battle 
array!  Here  was  treason,  open,  flagrant  and 
in  the  broad  light  of  day — treason,  armed  and 
led  by  the  most  distinguished  soldier  of  the 
Province  and  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly ! 

The  Captain  of  the  Diligence  prudently  con- 
cluded that  it  would  be  folly  to  attempt  to  land 
the  stamps  in  the  face  of  such  a  threat,  backed 
by  such  force,  and  promised  a  compliance  with 
the  demands  of  the  people.  The  "  Sons  of 
Liberty,"  as  they  were  afterwards  called,  then 
seized  one  of  the  boats  of  the  Diligence^  and 
leaving  a  guard  at  Brunswick  marched  with 
it  mounted  on  a  cart  to  Wilmington,  where 
there  was  a  triumphal  procession  through  the 
streets,  and  at  night  a  general  illumination  of 
the  town. 


And  His  Times.  89 

"And  this,"  said  an  eloqnent  North  Caro- 
linian, "was  more  than  ten  years  before  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  more  than 
nine  before  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and  nearly 
eight  3'ears  before  the  Boston  'Tea  Party/ 
The  destrnction  of  the  tea  was  done  in  the 
night  by  men  in  disguise.  And  history  blazons 
it,  and  New  England  boasts  of  it,  and  the  fame 
of  it  is  world-wide.  But  this  other  act,  more 
gallant  and  daring,  done  in  open  day  by  well- 
known  men,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  and 
under  the  King's  flag — who  remembers,  or 
who  tells  of  it."=^= 

Contemplating  this  act,  and  man}-  other 
kindred  ones  done  b}-  her  sons,  well  did  the 
orator  ask,  "When  will  history  do  justice  to 
North  Carolina?" 

It  being  the  dut}'  of  Governor  Tr3^on,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  to  report  all  this  business  to 
the  home  government,  he  determined  to  say 
nothing  about  the  armed  resistance  to  the 
Diligence^  but  to  report  onh^  the  facts  in  regard 
to  the  compulsion  of  the  Stamp-Master  to 
resign,  and  to  explain  the  failure  to  land  the 
stamps  b}-  the  assertion  that,  as  there  was  no 

*Hon.   George  Davis,  Address  at  the  University   of  N.  C.^ 
June,  1855. 


90  A  Colonial  Officer 

one  to  distribute  them,  he  directed  tlicin  to  be 
kept  on  board  that  vessel.  The  humiliation 
to  which  he  had  been  subjected  in  his  own 
house  in  which  Houston  had  taken  refuge  (of 
which  fact  he  likewise  avoided  all  mention), 
was  sufficienth'  galling,  without  adding  an 
account  of  it,  or  of  the  armed  defiance  of  one 
of  His  ^Iajest3''s  men-of-war  by  the  same  peo- 
ple. Besides,  as  appears  from  his  conduct  and 
his  dispatch  to  Conway-,  he  was  anxious  to 
smooth  over  the  trouble  and  conciliate  the 
people,  whose  good  will  he  desired  to  cultivate, 
whose  condition  he  knew  to  be  depressed,  and 
whose  spirit  he  was  obliged  to  respect.  Indeed, 
the  whole  tone  of  the  dispatch  was  deprecatory- 
and  regretful,  and  justifies  the  suspicion  that 
Tryon  sympathized  with  those  who  regarded 
the  Stamp  Act  as  most  unwise  and  oppressive 
legislation,  although  his  position  was  such  as 
to  prevent  him  from  openly  sa3'ing  so.  This 
dispatch  which,  like  the  others  in  his  letter- 
book,  has  never  been  published  up  to  the  time 
when  these  pages  are  written,  is  here  given  in 
full,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  event  above 
described. 


And  His  Timhs.  91 

Brunswick  26  Deer  1765. 
"  The  Right  Ifou'ble  H\v  Seymour  Co7tiv.ay 

111   obedience   to   His   Majesty's   commands 
conimnnicated   to   me   by  the    honor   of  your 
letter  of  the  12th  of  July  last,  it   is  with  con- 
cern I  acquaint  you  that  the  obstruction  to  the 
Stamp  Act  passed  last  session  of  Parliament 
has  been  as  general  in  this  province  as  in  any 
Colony  on  the  continent,  tho'  their  irregular 
proceedings  have   been  attended  with   no  mis- 
chief, or  are  by  any  means  formidable.     I  am 
much  of  the  opinion  that  whatever  measures 
are  prescribed  and  enforced  b}^  his   Majesty's 
authority  to  the  more  formidable  Colonies  to 
the  Northward  will  meet  with  a  ready  acqui- 
esence  in  the  Southern  provinces,  without  the 
necessity    of   any    military    force.      The  first 
intelligence  of  the  general   alarm  which  was 
spread  against  the  Stamp  Act  in  this  Colony 
was  in  October  last,  at  a  time  I  lay  extremely 
ill  of  the   fevers  of  this  country,  which   with 
repeated   relapses    I    have    experienced    these 
five   months   past.     I  was   very   impatient  to 
seize  the  first  opportunity  to  communicate  my 
sentiments  to  the  merchants  of  New  Hanover 
and  Brunswick  Counties,  who  are  the  persons 
that  carr}'  on  the  commerce  of  Cape  Fear  River 
(and  where  I  imagined  the  stamps  would  arrive) 
on  the  then  situation  of  public  affairs.     On  the 
1 8th  November  near  fifty  of  the  above  gentle- 
men waited  on  me  to  dinner  when  I  urged  to 
them  the  expediency  of  permitting  the  circu- 
lation of  the  stamps,  but  as  my  health  at  that 


9-2  A   Colonial  Officer 

time  would  not  allow  me  to  write  down  an}^ 
speech  I  must  beg  leave  to  refer  3'ou,  Sir,  to 
the  enclosed  Carolina  Gazette  of  the  27th  Novr 
in  which  \^ou  will  find  nearly  the  substance  of 
what  I  declared  and  proposed  to  the  above 
gentlemen.  Their  answer  and  my  replj^  are 
inclosed. 

Two  days  before  the  above  meeting,  Mr. 
Houston  the  Distributor  of  the  stamps  was 
compelled  in  the  Court  House  in  Wilmington 
and  in  the  presence  of  the  Mayor  and  some 
Aldermen  to  resign  his  office.  The  stamps 
arrived  the  28th  of  November  last  in  his 
Majesty's  Sloop,  the  Diligence  Capt  Phipps 
commander,  but  as  there  was  no  Distributor 
or  other  officer  of  the  stamps  in  this  countr}^ 
after  Air.  Houston's  resignation  the  stamps 
still  remain  on  board  the  said  ship.  No  ves- 
sels have  been  cleared  out  since  the  first  of 
November  from  this  river  or  from  anv  other  in 
this  province  that  I  have  received  intelligence 
of.  Some  merchants  from  Wilmington  applied 
to  me  for  certificates  for  their  ships,  specif^ang 
that  no  stamps  were  to  be  had,  which  I  declined 
granting,  referring  them  to  the  officers  of  his 
Majesty's  Customs.  The}'  have  been  as  assidu- 
ous in  obstructing  the  reception  of  the  stamps 
as  any  of  the  inhabitants. 

No  business  is  transacted  in  the  Courts  of 
Judicature,  tho'  the  Courts  have  been  regularly 
opened  and  all  civil  government  is  now  at  a 
stand.  This  stagnation  of  all  public  business 
and  commerce  under  the  low  circumstances  of 


And  HivS  Tiimks.  93 

the  inhabitants  mnst  be  attended  with  fatal 
conseqnences  to  this  colon}^  if  it  snbsists  but 
for  a  few  months  longer.  There  is  little  or  no 
specie  circulating  in  the  maritime  Counties  of 
this  province,  and  what  is  in  circulation  in  the 
back  Counties  is  so  ver}^  inconsiderable  that 
the  Attorne}'  General  assures  me  that  the 
stamp  duties  on  the  instruments  used  in  the 
five  Superior  Courts  of  this  province  would  in 
one  year  require  all  the  specie  in  the  country ; 
the  business  which  is  likewise  transacted  in 
the  twenty  nine  inferior,  or  County  Courts, 
the  many  instruments  which  pass  through  the 
Sheriffs'  hands  and  other  civil  officers ;  those  in 
the  Land  Office,  and  many  other  instruments 
used  in  transactions  of  public  business  were 
the  reasons  which  induced  me  to  believe  the 
operation  in  all  its  parts  impracticable,  and 
which  likewise  prompted  me  to  make  my  pro- 
posals for  the  ease  and  convenience  of  the 
People,  and  to  endeavor  to  reconcile  them  to 
this  Act  of  Parliament. 

On  the  20th  of  last  month  I  opened  and  pro- 
claimed my  commission  at  Wilmington,  when 
I  consulted  his  Majesty's  Council  if  au}^ 
measures  could  be  proposed  to  induce  the 
people  to  receive  the  stamps.  They  were 
unanimously  of  opinion  that  nothing  further 
could  be  done  than  what  I  have  alread}^  offered. 

I  have  his  Majestj^'s  writs  for  a  new  election 
of  Assembly,  but  shall  not  meet  them  till  next 
April  at  Newbern —     '''■''      ''     ''''     '=' 
I  am.  Sir  &c 

Wm  Tryon" 


94  A   Colonial  Offickr 

Not  long  after  this  event,  and  in  pnrsnance 
of  the  same  purpose  of  resisting  the  Stamp 
Act  in  every  way — even  to  the  point  of  arrest- 
ing and  punishing  the  Captain  of  a  war-vessel 
himself,  if  necessary — another  very  lively  inci- 
dent occurred  on  the  Cape  Fear  which  aston- 
ished and  infuriated  Tryon  and  his  friends, 
and  added  greatly  to  his  already  sore  humilia- 
tion ;  but  it  was  no  more  than  might  have  been 
expected,  after  the  resistance  to  the  landing  of 
the  stamps  and  the  previous  exaction  of  the 
oath  from  Houston  on  the  i6th  November. 

Early  in  February,  and  while  the  men-of- 
war  Viper  and  Diligence  were  still  lying  in 
the  river  off  Brunswick,  two  merchant  vessels, 
the  Dobbs  and  the  Patience,  the  one  from  St. 
Christophers  and  the  other  from  Philadelphia, 
arrived.  The  Collector  of  the  port,  Colonel 
Wm.  Dry,  upon  examining  their  clearance 
papers,  ascertained  that  there  were  no  stamps 
attached  to  them,  as  required  by  the  provisions 
of  the  Stamp  Act,  and,  as  was  doubtless  his 
duty,  he  took  the  papers  and  reported  the  facts 
to  the  Captain  of  the  Viper,  Captain  Jacob 
Lobb.  Captain  Lobb  immediately  seized  the 
vessels,  regardless  of  the  assurances  of  their 
Captains  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to 
comply  with  the  law,  for  tlie  reason  that  when 


Axi)  Hi.s  TiMKS.  95 

they  left  Philadelphia  and  St.  Christophers  no 
stamps  could  be  obtained.  As  soon  as  it 
became  known  that  these  vessels  had  been 
seized  under  such  circumstances  there  was 
great  excitement,  and  the  news  spread  with 
such  rapidity  that  very  soon  five  hundred  and 
eighty  armed  men,  besides  one  hundred  with- 
out arms,  were  assembled  and  Colonel  Hugh 
Waddell  was  chosen  as  their  commander. 

What  followed  is  told  in  detail  by  Governor 
Trj'on  in  his  dispatches  to  the  home  govern- 
ment, and,  as  this  narrative  has  never  been 
published,  it  is  here  given,  as  taken  from  his 
letter-book  now  in  the  Kxecutive  Department 
at  Raleigh.  There  are  some  facts  which  were 
suppressed  by  Tr3^on  in  this  narrative,  just  as 
he  suppressed  all  mention  of  the  resistance  to 
the  landing  of  the  stamps  on  the  28th  Novem- 
ber, supplying  the  omission  with  the  general 
statement  that  as  Houston  had  resigned,  "the 
stamps  still  remain  on  board  the  said  ship;" 
but  as  the  omissions  in  his  account  of  the 
affair  are  not  important,  the  narrative  is  given 
as  he  wrote  it,  as  follows: 


g6  A  Colonial  Offickr 

T/ie  Right  Honorable  Henry  Scynwnr  Conway^ 
Esq.^  one  of  his  Majesty s  Principal  Secreta- 
ries of  State  : 

Brunswick,  the  25th  February,  1766. 
Sir,  As  I  wish  to  give  3-011  as  particular  a 
relation  for  his  Majesty's  information  as  I 
possibl}^  can  of  an  illegal  assembly  of  men  in 
arms,  assembled  at  Brunswick  on  the  19th 
inst.  I  have  collected  all  the  letter  correspond- 
ence that  has  come  to  my  knowledge,  previous 
to  the  19th  inst.  during  the  time  the  men 
remained  in  arms,  as  well  as  after  the\^  dis- 
persed. 

In  this  letter  I  shall  chiefl}^  confine  m3^self 
to  the  narrations  of  the  actions  and  conduct  of 
the  bod}^  assembled,  desiring  leave  to  refer  3'ou 
to  the  letters  as  the3'  occur  in  point  of  order, 
and  time. 

The  Seizures  Capt.  Lobb  made  of  the  Dobbs 
and  Patience  sloops,  (as  b3'  his  letter  to  the 
collector  for  taking  the  papers  and  the  Attor- 
ne3'  General's  opinion  taken  thereon)  was  an 
affair  I  did  not  interfere  with ;  In  the  first 
instance  I  never  was  applied  to,  and  in  the 
second,  I  thought  it  rested  with  Capt.  Lobb. 
On  the  1 6th  in  the  evening  Mr.  Dry,  the 
Collector,  waited  on  me  with  a  letter  he  received 
dated  from  Wilmington  the  15th  of  Februar3- 
1766  and  at  the  same  time  informed  me  he  had 
sent  the  subscribers  word  he  should  wait  on 
them  the  next  da3'.  I  strongl3'  recommended 
him  to  put  the  papers  belonging  to  the  Patience 
Sloop  on  board  the  Viper  (those  of  the  Dobbs 


And  His  Times.  97 

had  some  time  before  been  given  np  to  the 
owner  on  his  delivering  security  for  them)  as 
I  apprehended,  I  said,  those  very  subscribers 
would  compel  him  to  give  them  up ;  His  answer 
was  "They  might  take  them  from  him  but  he 
would  never  give  them  up  without  Capt.  Lobb\s 
order."  The  weather  on  the  17th  prevented 
Mr.   Dry  from  going  to  Wilmington   till  the 

next  day. 

The  next  intelligence  I   received  was  in  the 
dusk  of  the  evening  of  the  19th  soon  after  6 
oVlock  by  letter  delivered  me  by   Mr.   George 
jMoore  and  Mr.  Cornelius  Harnett  bearing  date 
the    19th   and   signed    "John    Ashe,   Thomas 
Lloyd,  Alexander  UHington."     My  letter  of 
the  same  night  directed  "to  the  Commanding 
Officer  either  of  the  Viper  or  Diligence  Sloops 
of  War"  will  explain  the  opinion  I  entertained 
of  the  offer  made  of  a  guard  of  gentlemen,  and 
my  declaration  to  the  detachment  I  found  sur- 
rounding my  house.     This  letter  my  servant 
about  three  m  the  morning  put  on  board  the 
Diligence  who  lay  moored  opposite  to  my  house 
at  the  distance  of  four  or  five  hundred  yards, 
and  returned  to  me  again  in  a  short  space  of 
time  with  Capt.  Phipps  letter  in  answer.   Soon 
after  I  had  put  up  the  lights  required  Capt. 
Phipps  came  himself  on  shore  to  me,  the  guards 
having  quitted  the  posts  they  had  taken  round 
the  house,  and  on   the   beach :    With   a   most 
generous  warmth  and  zeal  Capt.  Phipps  offered 
me  every   service   his    ship  or  himself  could 
afford.     1  assured  him  the  services  I  wished  to 


98  A  Colonial  Officer 

receive  from  his  Majesty's  sloops  consisted 
wholly  in  the  protection  of  the  Fort.  That  as 
Capt.  Dalrymple  had  but  five  men  in  garrison 
to  defend  eight  eighteen  pounders,  eight  nine 
pounders,  and  twenty  three  swivel  guns  all 
mounted  and  fit  for  service  together  with  a 
considerable  quantity  of  amunition,  I  wrote  an 
order  to  Capt.  Dalrymple  "  to  obe\'  all  orders 
he  might  receive  from  the  Commanding  Officer 
either  of  the  Viper  or  Diligence  sloops  of  war," 
and  desired  Capt.  Phipps  would  send  it  to  the 
Fort.  I  made  it  so  general  because  Capt. 
Phipps  told  me  neither  of  the  Sloops  had  a 
pilot  then  on  board,  and  that  it  was  uncertain 
which  ship  could  first  get  down  to  the  Fort 
distant  four  leagues  from  where  the  ships  then 
lay  off  Brunswick ;  Capt.  Phipps  after  a  sta}- 
on  shore  of  about  ten  minutes  returned  on 
board  the  Diligence. 

On  the  20th  about  12  o'clock  at  noon  Capt. 
Lobb  sent  to  desire  I  would  meet  him  on  board 
the  Diligence,  which  request  I  immediatel}' 
complied  with  and  at  the  same  time  the  Col- 
lector Mr.  Dry  came  on  board.  There  were 
then  present,  the  Captains  Lobb  and  Phipps, 
Mr.  McGwire,  Vice  Judge  of  the  Admiralty, 
the  Collector,  and  myself.  Capt.  Lobb  told  me 
he  had  had  a  committee  from  the  inhabitants 
in  arms  on  board  his  ship,  that  they  demanded 
the  possession  of  the  sloops  he  had  seized  and 
that  he  was  to  give  them  his  answer  in  the 
afternoon.  Mr.  Dry  the  Collector  informed  me 
that  his  desk  was  broke  open  on  the  19th  in 


And  Hls  Times.  99 

the  evening  and  the  unstampt  papers  belong- 
ing to  the  Patience  and  Rnby  sloops  forcibly 
taken  from  him.  He  said  he  knew  most  of 
the  persons  that  came  into  his  lionse  at  that 
time  but  he  did  not  see  who  broke  open  the 
desk  and  took  out  the  papers.  Capt.  Lobb 
seemed  not  satisfied  with  the  legality  of  his 
seizure  of  the  Rub}' sloop  (seized  subsequent 
to  the  papers  that  were  sent  to  the  Attorney 
General  for  his  opinion,  on  the  Dobbs  and 
Patience)  and  declared  he  would  return  her  to 
the  master  or  owner;  but  that  he  would  insist 
on  the  papers  belonging  to  the  Patience  being 
returned,  which  were  taken  from  the  Collectors 
desk,  and  that  he  would  not  give  up  the  Sloop 
Patience.  I  approved  of  these  resolutions  and 
desired  that  he  M'ould  not  in  the  conduct  of 
this  affair  consider  ni}-  family,  myself  or  my 
property,  that  I  was  greatl}^  solicitous  for  the 
honor  of  government  and  his  IMajesty's  interest 
in  the  present  exigency,  and  particular!}' 
recommended  to  him  the  protection  of  Fort 
Johnston.  I  then  returned  on  shore.  In  the 
evening  Capt  Phipps  waited  on  me  from  on 
board  the  Viper,  and  acquainted  me  that  all 
was  settled;  that  Capt  Lobb  had  given  his 
consent  for  the  owners  to  take  possession  of 
the  Sloops  Rub}'  and  Patience,  as  the  copy  of 
Capt  Lobbs  orders  for  that  purpose  will  declare. 
This  report  was  not  consistent  with  the 
determinations  I  concluded  Capt  Lobb  left  the 
Diligence  in,  when  I  met  him  according  to  his 
appointment  but  a  few  hours  before. 


loo  A  Colonial  Officer 

To  be  regular  in  point  of  time  I  must  now 
speak  of  some  further  conduct  of  the  inhabi- 
tants in  arms,  who  were  continual!}-  coming 
into  Brunswick  from  different  counties.  This 
same  evening  of  the  20th  inst.  Mr.  Penning- 
ton, his  Majesty's  Comptroller  came  to  let  me 
know  there  had  been  a  search  after  him,  and 
as  he  guessed  they  w-anted  him  to  do  some  act 
that  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  duty  of  his 
office,  he  came  to  acquaint  me  with  this  enquir}- 
and  search.  I  told  him  I  had  a  bed  at  his  ser- 
vice, and  desired  he  would  remain  with  me. 
The  next  morning  the  21st  about  eight  o'clock, 
I  saw  Mr.  Pennington  going  from  ni}-  house 
with  Col  James  Moore.  I  called  him  back, 
and  as  Col  Moore  returned  with  him  I  desired 
to  know  if  he  had  au}-  business  with  Mr.  Pen- 
nington. He  said  the  gentlemen  assembled 
wanted  to  speak  with  him.  I  desired  Col. 
]\Ioore  would  inform  the  gentlemen,  Mr.  Pen- 
nington, his  Majesty's  Comptroller,  I  had 
occasion  to  employ  on  dispatches  for  his 
Majesty's  service,  therefore  could  not  part  with 
him.  Col  Moore  then  went  away  and  in  five 
minutes  afterwards  I  found  the  avenues  to  ni}- 
house  again  shut  up  b}'  different  parties  of 
armed  men.  Soon  after  the  following  note  was 
sent  and  the  answer  annexed  returned : 

^'SiR 

"The  Gentlemen  assembled  for  the  redress 
"of  grievances  desirous  of  seeing  Mr.  Pen- 
"nington  to  speak  with  him  sent  Col  Moore 
"to  desire  his  attendance,  and  understand  that 


And  His  Times.  ioi 

''he  was  stayed  by  your  Excellency,  they 
"therefore  request  that  your  Excellency  will 
"be  pleased  to  let  him  attend,  otherwise  it  will 
"  not  be  in  the  power  of  the  Directors  appointed, 
''to  prevent  the  ill  consequences  that  may 
"  attend  a  refusal.  They  don't  intend  the  least 
"injury  to  Mr.  Pennington." 

Friday  the  2ist  February  1766. 

To  His  Excellency. 

The  Answer. 

"Mr  Pennington  being  employed  by  his 
"Excellency  on  dispatches  for  his  Majesty's 
"service,  any  gentleman  that  may  have  busi- 
"ness  with  him  may  see  him  at  the  Governor's 
"house." 

2ist  February  1766 

It  was  about  10  o'clock  when  I  observed  a  body 
of  men  in  arms,  from  four  to  five  hundred,  move 
towards  the  house.  A  detachment  of  sixty 
men  came  down  the  avenue,  and  the  main  body 
drew  up  in  front,  in  sight,  and  within  three 
hundred  yards  of  the  house.  Mr.  Harnett,  a 
representative  in  the  Assembly  for  Wilming- 
ton, came  at  the  head  of  the  detachment,  and 
sent  a  message  to  speak  with  Mr  Pennington. 
When  he  came  into  the  house  he  told  Mr. 
Pennington  the  gentlemen  wanted  him.  I 
answered,  Mr.  Pennington  came  into  my  house 
for  refuge,  he  was  a  Crown  Officer,  and  as  such 
I  would  give  him  all   the  protection  my  roof, 


I02  .  A  Colonial  Officer 

and  the  dignity  of  the  character  I  held  in  this 
province,  conld  afford  him.  Mr.  Harnett  hoped 
I  wonld  let  him  go,  a.s  the  people  were  deter- 
mined to  take  him  ont  of  the  honse  if  he  shonld 
be  longer  detained;  an  insnlt  he  said  the}- 
wished  to  avoid  offering  to  me:  An  insiilt,  I 
replied,  that  would  not  tend  to  any  great  con- 
sequence, after  they  had  already  offered  every 
insult  the}-  could  offer,  by  investing  my  house, 
and  making  me  in  effect  a  prisoner  before  any 
grievance,  or  oppression,  had  been  first  repre- 
sented to  me.  Mr.  Pennington  grew  very 
uneasy,  said  he  would  choose  to  go  to  the  gen- 
tlemen; I  again  repeated  my  offers  of  protec- 
tion, if  he  chose  to  stay.  He  declared,  and 
desired  I  would  remember,  that  whatever  oaths 
might  be  imposed  on  him,  he  should  consider 
them  as  acts  of  compulsion  and  not  of  free  will ; 
and  further  added  that  he  would  rather  resign 
his  ofiice  than  do  any  act  contrary  to  his  duty. 
If  that  was  his  determination,  I  told  him,  he 
had  better  resign  before  he  left  me.  Mr. 
Harnett  interposed,  with  saying  he  hoped  he 
would  not  do  that:  I  enforced  the  recommen- 
dation for  resignation.  He  consented,  paper 
was  brought,  and  his  resignation  executed,  and 
received.  I  then  said,  Mr.  Pennington,  now 
sir,  you  may  go;  Mr.  Harnett  went  out  with 
him;  the  detachment  retired  to  the  town.  Mr. 
Pennington  afterwards  informed  me,  they  got 
him  in  the  midst  of  them  when  Mr.  \\'ard, 
master  of  the  Patience,  asked  him  to  enter  his 
sloop.     Mr.  Pennington  assured  him  he  could 


And  His  Timks.  103 

not,  as  he  had  resigned  his  office.  He  was 
afterwards  obliged  to  take  an  oath  that  he 
wonld  never  issne  any  stamped  paper  in  this 
province.  The  above  oath  the  Collector 
informed  me  he  was  obliged  to  take,  as  were 
all  the  clerks  of  the  Connt}-  Courts,  and  other 
public  officers.  The  inhabitants,  having  re- 
dressed after  the  manner  described  their  griev- 
ances complained  of,  left  the  town  of  Brunswick 
about  I  o'clock  on  the  21st.  In  the  evening  I 
went  on  board  the  A^iper  and  acquainted  Capt 
Lobb  I  apprehended  the  conditions  he  had 
determined  to  abide  by  when  I  left  the  Dili- 
gence, were  different  to  the  concessions  he  had 
made  to  the  committee  appointed  for  the  redress 
of  grievances  :  That  I  left  the  Diligence  in  the 
full  persuasion  he  was  to  demand  a  restitution 
of  the  papers  or  clearances  of  the  Patience 
sloop,  and  not  to  give  up  the  possession  of  that 
vessel :  That  I  found  he  had  given  up  the 
sloop  Patience,  and  himself  not  in  possession 
of  the  papers.  He  answered  "  As  to  the  papers, 
"  he  had  attested  copies  of  them,  and  as  to 
"  the  sloop,  he  had  done  no  more  than  what 
"  he  had  offered  before  this  disturbance  hap- 
"  pened  at  Brunswick."  I  could  not  help 
owning  I  thought  the  detaining  the  Patience 
became  a  point  that  concerned  the  honor  of 
government,  and  that  I  found  my  situation 
ver}^  unpleasant,  as  most  of  the  people  by 
going  up  to  Wilmington  in  the  sloops  would 
remain  satisfied  and  report  thro'  the  province, 
tlie}^  had   obtained  ever}-   point  the}'  came  to 


I04  A  Colonial  Officer 

redress,  while  at  the  same  time  I  had  the  mor- 
tification to  be  informed  his  Majest\^'s  ordnance 
at  Fort  Johnston  was  spiked.  This  is  the  sub- 
stance of  what  passed  on  board  the  \^iper.  On 
the  2 2d  Capt.  Phipps  accompanied  me  to  Fort 
Johnston,  where  I  found  Capt  Dalr3anple  sick 
in  bed,  two  men  only  in  garrison,  and  all  the 
cannon  that  were  mounted,  spiked  with  nails. 
I  gave  orders  for  the  nails  to  be  immediately 
drilled  out,  which  will  be  executed  without 
prejudice  to  the  pieces.  I  returned  to  Bruns- 
wick in  the  evening,  and  the  next  morning  sent 
my  letter  bearing  date  the  23d  to  Capt.  Lobb 
to  desire  his  reasons  for  spiking  the  cannon 
&c.  He  returned  me  his  reasons  for  this  con- 
duct by  letter  the  24th  inst. 

Capt  Lobb's  complaint  relative  to  the  pro- 
visions for  his  Majesty's  sloops  being  stopt  at 
Wilmington  with  the  contractor's  certificate  of 
the  manner  of  this  restraint  and  ni}-  letter  to 
the  Mayor  of  Wilmington  to  require  his  assist- 
ance in  furnishing  the  provision  demanded,  wnll 
be  fully,  I  hope,  understood  by  that  correspon- 
dence. 

By  the  best  accounts  I  have  received  the 
number  of  this  insurrection  amounted  to  580 
men  in  arms,  and  upwards  of  100  unarmed. 
The  Mayor  and  Corporation  of  Wilmington 
and  most  all  of  the  gentlemen  and  planters  of 
the  counties  of  Brunswick,  New  Hanover, 
Duplin,  and  Bladen,  with  some  masters  of 
vessels,  composed  this  corps.  I  am  informed 
and  believe  the    majority  of  this  association 


And  His  Times.  105 

were  either  compelled  into  this  service  or  were 
ignorant  what  their  grievances  were.  I  except 
the  principals.  I  have  enclosed  a  copy  of  the 
association  formed  to  oppose  the  Stamp  Act. 

Thns,  Sir,  I  have  endeavored  to  lay  before 
yon  the  first  springs  of  this  disturbance  as  well 
as  the  particular  conduct  of  the  parties  con- 
cerned in  it;  and  I  have  done  this  as  much  as 
I  possibly  could  without  prejudice,  or  passion, 
favor  or  affection.  I  should  be  extremely  glad 
if  3'ou,  Sir,  could  honor  me  with  his  Majesty's 
commands  in  the  present  exigenc}^  of  affairs 
in  this  colony  and  in  the  mean  time  will  study 
to  conduct  myself  with  the  assistance  of  his 
Majesty's  Council  in  such  manner  as  will  best 
secure  the  safety  and  honor  of  government  and 
the  peace  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  province. 

I  am,  Sir,  with  all  possible  respect  and 
esteem. 

Copies  of  Letters  and  papers  referred  to  in 
the  preceding  letter  : 

(copy.) 

Viper,  Cape  Fear,  14th  Januarj^,  1766. 
Sir, 

As  the  Sloops  Dobbs  and  Patience  not  having 
their  clearances  on  stampt  paper  according  to 
act  of  Parliament  I  have  detained  them,  and 
herewith  you  will  receive  the  papers  in  order 
to  their  being  prosecuted  in  the  Court  of  Ad- 


8 


io6  A  Colonial  Officer 

iiiiralty  as  I  am  directed  by  the  commissioners 
of  the  Customs,  I  am  Sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 

Jacob  Lobb. 
William  Dry,  Esq. 


(COPY. ) 

Custom  House,  Port  Brunswick, 

1 6th  January  1766. 
Dear  Sir, 

By  instruction  from  the  Surveyor  General, 
I  am  ordered  in  case  any  of  the  Men  of  War 
should  make  any  seizures  to  receive  the  cause 
of  seizure  and  her  papers  from  them  and  to 
transmit  them  to  you  for  your  opinion  which 
I  am  to  be  ruled  by  whether  to  prosecute  or 
not. 

This  therefore  serves  to  enclose  j^ou  the 
papers  of  two  vessels,  one  from  Philadelphia 
the  other  from  St.  Christophers  which  Capt. 
Lobb  hath  seized  for  not  having  Stampt  Papers 
as  you'll  see  by  his  letter  to  me  here  enclosed. 
The  papers  are  in  separate  packets,  the  one 
parcell  are  copies  of  the  originals  and  the 
others  are  the  original  papers  which  Mr. 
Quince  desired  I  might  send  as  belonging  to 
his  vessel;  all  which  I  must  entreat  the  favor 
of  you  to  look  over  and  to  return  me  your 
opinion  by  this  express  which  I  send  on  pur- 
pose. I  beg  the  messenger  maj^  be  dispatched. 
I  am  Dear  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

William  Dry. 

Robert  Jones  Jun.  Esq. 


And  His  Timp:s.  107 

(copy.  ) 

OccANECHV  3d  Februar}^  1766. 
Dear  Sir, 

I  received  yours  of  the  i6th  ult.  pr.  your 
messeuger,  &  have  perused  the  papers  sent 
therewith,  from  whence  I  have  made  a  state  of 
the  case  you  desire  to  be  advised  about,  as  it 
occurs  to  me,  and  subjoined  to  it  my  opinion 
in  full,  both  which  you  will  receive  enclosed. 
As  matters  are  circumstanced  I  think  3^ou 
ought  to  proceed  in  prosecuting  both  vessels, 
lest  your  neglect  should  be  deemed  a  con- 
nivance at  the  opposition  made  to  the  Stamp 
Act,  which  in  an  officer  of  the  Crown  probably 
may  be  thought  worthy  of  censure. 

Pray  let  Mr.  Quince  have  a  sight  of  the 
Case  and  my  opinion,  as  by  my  letter  to  him 
I  have  referred  him  to  you  for  that  purpose. 

I  was  from  home  when  the  messenger  came 
and  did  not  return  till  last  night  which  occa- 
sioned his  tarrying. 
I  am, 

Dear  Sir, 
Your  most  obedt  &  very  hum:  servant 
Robert  Jones,  Jun. 

P.  S.  The  Act  does  not  require  that  Reg- 
isters should  be  on  Stampt  paper. 

To  the  Honble  William  Dry,  Esq. 


(copy.) 
State  of  the  case  relative  to  the  Sloops  Dobbs 
and    Patience,    lately    arrived    in  Cape    Fear 
River,   the   one   from   Philadelphia,  the  other 
from  St.  Christophers. 


io8  A  Colonial  Officer 

It  is  supposed  that  no  Stampt  Paper  could 
be  procured  b}'  the  Officers  of  the  Customs 
in  the  ports  from  whence  the  said  vessels 
sailed,  therefore  the  Captains  obtained  clear- 
ances, certificates,  &c.  on  common  paper  and 
proceeded  to  Cape  Fear,  where  they  are  seized 
by  Capt  Lobb,  Commander  of  His  Majesty's 
Sloop  Viper,  who  makes  information  to  the 
Collector  of  the  Port,  requiring  him  to  com- 
mence prosecutions  against  them. 

Quere  i.  Is  failing  to  obtain  Clearances  &c. 
on  stampt  paper  a  proper  cause  for  seizing 
the  said  vessels  and  to  be  considered  as  a  neg- 
lect of  the  duties  required  by  the  Acts  of 
Trade  sufficient  to  induce  a  Court  of  Admi- 
ralty to   decree  vessels  and  cargoes  forfeited  ? 

2.  Upon  proof  being  made  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  obtain  Clearances  &c  on  Stampt 
Paper  of  the  officers  of  the  customs  in  the  ports 
from  whence  the  said  vessels  sailed,  will  it  not 
be  a  sufficient  cause  to  induce  the  Court  to 
decree  in  favor  of  the  owners  of  the  said  ves- 
sels ? 

3.  If  it  is  necessary  to  prosecute  on  Capt 
Lobbs  information,  must  the  prosecution  be 
commenced  in  the  Court  of  Admiralty  at  Cape 
Fear,  or  must  the  said  vessels  be  sent  to  Hali- 
fax in  order  to  be  libelled  ? 

In  answer  to  the  first  question. — The  Clear- 
ances &c  being  on  common  paper  it  is  the  same 
as  if  these  vessels  had  sailed  without  clearances, 
and  of  course  they  are  liable  to  be  seized,  and 


And  His  Times.  109 

I  think  condemned  by  a  Conrt  of  Admiralty 
with  their  cargoes. 

2d.  Reason  does  not  reqnire  impossibilities 
and  Courts  of  Admiralty  often  decree  favorabl}^ 
on  the  part  of  the  owners  of  vessels  and  car- 
goes where  it  does  not  appear  that  any  fraud 
was  intended  to  the  crown ;  especially  where 
all  has  been  done  that  it  was  in  the  power  of 
the  Captains  or  ow^ners  of  vessels  to  do;  but 
the  Captains  of  these  vessels  seem  to  me  to 
have  been  guilty  of  great  neglect.  They 
should  have  tendered  the  Kings  duties  to  the 
officers  of  the  customs  and  demanded  proper 
clearances  &c.  and  on  being  refused  they 
should  have  made  the  like  tender  to  a  Notarj^ 
Public  and  offered  a  protest.  Had  these  mat- 
ters been  complied  with  so  as  to  be  duly  proved 
on  a  trj^al,  I  should  think  the  Judge  would 
decree  that  the  vessels  and  cargoes  were  not 
forfeited. 

3.  If  prosecutions  are  intended  against  these 
vessels,  they  must  be  sent  to  Halifax,  for 
should  they  be  libelled  here,  and  the  proceed- 
ings carried  on  upon  common  paper,  such 
proceedings  will  be  mere  nullities  and  not  alter 
the  property  either  of  the  vessels  or  cargoes.  As 
to  the  provision  in  the  Stamp  Act  that  penal- 
ties should  be  sued  for  where  offences  against 
that  act  are  committed,  that  must  be  under- 
stood of  pecuniar}^  penalties  specified  in  the 
said  Act,  and  can  have  no  relation  to  matters 
mentioned  in  the  above  case.      Upon  the  whole 


no  A  Colonial  Officer 

it  is  my  opinion  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Col- 
lector to  prosecute  on  the  informations  received. 

Robert  Jones  Jun. 


(COPY.) 

19th  February  1766. 
Sir, 

The  Inhabitants  dissatisfied  with  the  par- 
ticular restrictions  laid  on  the  trade  of  this 
river  only,  have  determined  to  march  to  Bruns- 
wick in  hopes  of  obtaining  in  a  peaceable  man- 
ner, a  redress  of  their  grievances  from  the 
Commanding  Officer  of  his  Alajesty's  ships, 
and  have  compelled  us  to  conduct  them ;  We 
therefore  think  it  our  duty  to  acquaint  3'Our 
Excellency,  that  we  are  fullj^  determined  to 
protect  from  insult  your  person  and  property, 
and  that  if  it  will  be  agreeable  to  your  Excel- 
lency, a  guard  of  gentlemen  shall  be  imme- 
diately detached  for  that  purpose. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be  with  the  greatest 
respect 

Sir, 
Your  Excellency's  most  obedient 
Humble  servants, 
John  Ashe, 
Thos.  Loyd, 
Alex.  Lillington. 
To  His  Excellency  AVilliam  Tr^'on,  Esq. 


And  His  Timks.  m 

(COPY.) 

Brunswick  19th  February  1766. 

Eleven  at  Night 

Sir, 

Between  the  hours  of  six  and  seven  o  clock 

this  evening,  Mr.  George  Moore  and  Mr.  Cor- 
nelius Harnett  waited  on  me  at  my  house,  and 
delivered  to  me  a  letter  signed  by  three  gen- 
tlemen.    The    inclosed   is    a    copy    from    the 
original.     I  told  Mr.  Moore  and  Mr.  Harnett, 
tha't  as  I  had  no  fears  or  apprehensions  for  my 
person  or  property,  I  wanted  no  guard,  there- 
fore desired  the  gentlemen  might  not  come  to 
give  their  protection  where  it  was  not  neces- 
sary or  required,  and  that  I  would  send  the 
gentlemen    an    answer   in    writing   tomorrow 
morning.     Mr.  Moore  and  Mr.  Harnett  might 
stay  about  five  or  six  minutes  in   my  house, 
Instantly  after  their  leaving  me,  I  found  my 
house    surrounded    with    armed    men    to    the 
number  I  estimate  at  one  hundred  and  fifty. 
I  had  some  altercation  with  some  of  the   gen- 
tlemen who  informed  me  their  business  was  to 
see  Capt  Lobb  whom  they  were  informed  was 
at  my  house ;  Capt  Paine  then  desired  me  to 
give  my  word  and  honor  whether  Capt  Lobb 
was  in  my  house  or  not.     I  positively  refused 
to  make  any  such  declaration,  but  as  they  had 
force  in   their  hands  I   said  they  might  brake 
open    my  locks   and   force    my  doors.      This 
they  declared  they  had  no  intention  of  doing; 
just  after   this  and   other   discourse   they  got 
intelligence   that  Capt  Lobb   was   not  in  my 


112  A  Colonial  Officer 

house.  The  majorit}^  of  the  men  in  arms  then 
went  towards  the  town  of  Brunswick  and  left 
a  number  of  men  to  watch  the  avenues  of  ni}^ 
house,  therefore  think  it  doubtful  if  I  can  get 
this  letter  safel}^  conveyed. 

I  esteem  it  my  dut}^,  Sir,  to  inform  you  as 
Fort  Johnston  has  but  one  officer,  and  five  men 
in  garrison,  the  Fort  will  stand  in  need  of  all 
the  assistance  the  Viper  and  Diligence  Sloops 
can  give  the  Commanding  Officer  there,  should 
any  insult  be  offered  to  his  Majesty's  fort  or 
stores,  in  which  case  it  is  my  duty  to  request 
of  you  to  repel  force  with  force ;  and  to  take 
on  board  his  Majesty's  sloops  so  much  of  his 
Majesty's  ordnance,  stores  and  ammunition, 
out  of  the  said  fort  as  you  shall  think  neces- 
sary for  the  benefit  of  the  service. 
I  am  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

(Signed)  Wu.  Tryon. 

To  the  Commanding  Officer  either  of  the  Viper 

or  Diligence  Sloops  of  War. 


(copy.  ) 

Sir, 

I  have  received  your  Excellency's  favor  and 
am  much  concerned  at  the  uneasiness  this 
accident  will  have  given  3'ou.  I  have  been 
disappointed  in  two  attempts  to  see  3'our  Ex- 
cellency to-night,  one  very  earl}^  tother  late. 
I  had  immediatel}^,  upon  hearing  two  hundred 
men  were  gone  down,  sent  Lieut  Calder  with 
five  men  and  spikes  for  the  guns  if  Capt  Dal- 
rymple   thought  them   necessar\',  and  to  give 


And  His  Timks.  113 

him  any  other  assistance  that  was  necessary. 
I  believe  they  were  down  in  time.  I  hope  if 
this  gets  safe  your  Excellency  will  let  me 
know  it  by  showing  a  light  in  each  of  the 
middle  windows  above  stairs.  If  I  see  that 
signal  I  will  inform  your  Excellency  of  the 
success  of  my  boat  by  hauling  down  the  pen- 
dant at  sunrise  or  soon  after.  Capt  Lobb 
received  a  deputation  to  desire  he  would  come 
on  shore,  which  he  refused. 

I  am,  your  Excellency's  most  obedient 
And  most  humble  servant, 

C.  J.  Phipps. 
To  His  Excellency  Governor  Tryon,  &c.  &c. 

(copy.) 

Sir, 

You  will  obey  all  orders  you    may  receive 
either  from    the   Commanding  Officer  of  the 
Viper  or  Diligence  sloops  of  war. 
I  am 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

(Signed)  Wm.  Tryon. 

19  February  1776. 
To  Capt.  Dalrymple. 


(copy.) 

Viper  Sloop,  Cape  Fear, 

20  February  1766. 

Sir, 

Not  thinking  it  proper   to  detain   the  Sloop 
Ruby  any  longer,  desire  you  will  deliver  her 


114  A  Colonial  Officer 

to  the   proper  master,  Mr.  Horner,  for   which 
this  shall  be  a  sufficient  warrant. 
I  am  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Jacob  Lobb. 
To  William  Dry,  Esq. 

Collector  for  Brunswick. 


(copy.) 

Viper  Sloop,  Cape  Fear, 

20  Feb'y  1766. 
Sir, 

As  there  is  perishable  commodities  on  board 
the  Sloop  Patience,  detained  by  me,  you  may^ 
if  you  think  it  consistent  with  your  duty, 
deliver  up  the  same  with  the  Vessel  and  cargoe 
upon  sufficient  security  for  them. 
I  am  Sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

Jacob  Lobb. 
To  William  Dry,  Esq. 

Collector  at  Brunswick. 


(copy.) 

Brunswick,  23d  February  1766. 
Sir, 

I  was  yesterday  with  Capt.  Phipps  at  Fort 
Johnston  where  I  found  twenty  three  swivel 
guns,  eight  eighteen  pounders  and  eight  nine 
pounders  spiked.  I  demanded  of  Capt.  Dal- 
rymple,  the  Commanding  Officer,  his  authority 
for  spiking  the  cannon.  He  produced  ^-our 
order  and  said  Lieut.  Calder  of  the  Diligence^ 


And  His  TimKvS.  115 

in  consequence  of  it,  spiked  the  above  cannon. 
As  I  nnderstand  yonr  midshipman  was  yes- 
terday disappointed  in  getting  copies  of  my 
instructions  to  Capt.  Dalrymple,  and  yonr 
order  to  him,  I  insert  them  both,  Vidt. 

Sir, 

"  You  will  obey  all  orders  you  ma}^  receive 
"  either  from  the  Commanding  Officer  of  the 
'*  Viper  or  Diligence  Sloops  of  War." 
I  am,  &c. 

Wm.  Tryon. 
19  February  1766. 
To  Capt.  Dalrymple. 

"  I  think  its  necessary  at  this  time,  you  will 
"  render  the  guns  at  Fort  Johnston  unservice- 
*'  able,  as  there  is  a  number  of  men  which 
"intend  insulting  his  Majesty's  ships  in  this 
"  river.     I  am 

"  Your  humble  Servant, 

"Jacob  Lobb." 

I  must  observe  that  the  reason  you  gave  in 
this  order,  is  totally  contrary  to  everj^  senti- 
ment I  entertained,  as  I  hope  my  letter  of  the 
19th,  delivered  to  you  by  Lieut.  Calder  will 
justify,  directed  to  the  Commanding  Officer 
either  of  the  Viper  or  Diligence  Sloops  of  War, 
as  well  as  my  conversation  on  board  the  Dili- 
gence on  the  20th  where  you  desired  I  would 
meet  you.  I  never  had  a  suspicion  that  it  was 
in  the  power  of  the  persons  assembled  in  arms 
to  insult  his  Majesty's  ships  in  this  river.  The 
object  of  my  consideration  was  the  protection 


ii6  A  Colonial   Officer 

of  the  fort.  I  therefore  wish  to  receive  from 
you  the  reasons  why  you  thought  the  spiking 
of  the  guns  a  necessary  step  to  prevent  his 
Majesty's  ships  from  being  insulted,  or  what 
other  motives  you  had  for  ordering  the  guns 
to  be  spiked.  This  request  I  make  that  I  may 
be  furnished  with  the  proper  causes  for  such  a 
proceeding,  in  order  to  transmit  them  to  his 
Majesty's  Principal  Secretary  of  State  with 
my  other  dispatches. 
I  am,  &c.  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

(Signed)  Wm.  Tryon. 

To  Capt.  Lobb. 


(copy.) 

Viper  Sloop,  Brunswick, 

The  24th  Feb'r}^,  1766. 
Sir, 

I  received  j^our  Excellency's  Letter  of  the 
23d  inst.  desiring  me  to  give  j^our  Excellency 
my  reasons  for  ordering  the  guns  at  Fort 
Johnston  to  be  spiked.  Pursuant  to  3'our  Ex- 
cellency's letter  of  the  19th  inst.  signifj-ing  to 
me  that  as  Fort  Johnston  had  but  one  officer 
and  five  men  in  garrison  and  of  its  standing 
in  need  of  all  the  assistance  the  Viper  and 
Diligence  could  give  the  commanding  offtcer 
there,  should  any  insult  be  offered  to  his 
Majesty's  fort,  or  stores,  and  likewise  3'our 
Excellency's  request  to  repel  force  with  force, 
I,  on  information  the  same  evening  from  Lieut. 
Calder,  corroborated  b}'  that  of  several  other 


And  His  Times.  117 

gentlemen,  that  a  party  of  men,  consisting  of 
three  or  four  hundred,  under  the  command  of 
Col.  Waddell,  were  on  their  march  to  Fort 
Johnston  in  order  to  take  possession  of  it,  as 
there  was  no  possibilit}^  of  getting  the  ships 
down,  being  night  and  no  pilots  to  be  had 
early  enough  to  prevent  their  making  their 
quarters  good,  sent  Lieut.  Calder  in  a  boat 
with  your  Excellency's  order  addrest  to  Capt. 
Dalrymple  commanding  that  he  should  comply 
with  any  orders  he  should  receive  from  myself 
or  Capt.  Phipps,  with  one  from  me  to  render 
the  cannon  unserviceable  by  spiking  them  up, 
to  the  end  of  facilitating  our  repossession  as 
soon  as  the  ships  could  arrive  before  it. 
I  am  with  respect, 

Your  Excellency's  most  obedient 
Humble  Servant, 

Jacob  Lobb. 
To  His  Excellency  Governor  Tryon. 

While  this  was  going  on  the  people  in  Wil- 
mington were  not  idle.  They  seized  the  boat 
of  the  contractor  for  supplies  to  the  men-of- 
war,  and  the  consequence  was  that  the  crews 
of  the  Viper  and  Diligence^  finding  themselves 
with  only  one  day's  rations  of  bread,  and  the 
only  possible  source  of  supply  thus  cut  off, 
were  in  a  fair  way  to  starve.  This  compelled 
Tryon  to  terms,  and  the  Solicitor  of  the  Court 
of  Admiralty,    Robert  Jones,    Esq.,    made    a 


ii8  A  Colonial  Officer 

virtue  of  necessity,  and  accepted  the  explana- 
tion of  the  captains  of  the  two  merchant  ves- 
sels in  regard  to  the  impossibility  of  procuring 
stamps,  and  released  their  vessels.  The  cor- 
respondence in  relation  to  the  seizure  of  the 
boat,  as  found  in  Tr\'on's  dispatches,  is  as 
follows: 

(copy.) 

Viper  Sloop,  Cape  Fear, 

2  2d  February  1766. 
Sir, 

I  beg  leave  to  acquaint  j^our  Excellency 
that  by  ni}^  order  of  the  5th  inst.  there  was  a 
demand  for  provisions  given  to  the  Contractor's 
Agent,  Mr.  William  Dry,  for  the  use  of  the 
complement  of  men  on  board  his  Majesty's 
Sloop  under  my  command,  which  demand  is 
not  complied  with,  and  I  find  by  a  certificate 
from  Mr.  Dr}^  the  provisions  were  denied  being 
brought  to  his  Majesty's  Sloop  by  the  Inhabi- 
tants of  Wilmington.  I  must  beg  leave  to 
acquaint  your  Excellency  that  there  is  no 
more  bread  on  board  than  to  serve  the  Sloop's 
compan}'  tomorrow,  and  do  request  your  Ex- 
cellency's advice.  Inclosed  your  Excellenc}' 
will  receive  a  copy  of  Mr.  Dry's  certificate.  I 
am  with  respect*. 

Your  Excellency's 

Obedient  humble  servant, 

Jacob  Lobb. 
To  His  Excellency  Governor  Try  on. 


And  His  TniEvS.  119 

(COPY.) 

These  are  to  certify  that  there  was  a  deiiiaiid 
made  to  me  by  Capt.  Jacob  Lobb  of  his 
Majesty's  Sloop  Viper  for  a  supply  of  provis- 
ions for  the  said  Sloop  011  the  Fifth  iiist.  and 
that  there  was  a  boat  and  hands  sent  by  me  to 
Wilmington  for  the  same,  that  the  men  belong- 
ing to  the  boat  were  taken  up  and  put  into 
gaol,  that  the  inhabitants  and  people  of  the 
province  would  not  suffer  any  provisions  to  be 
shipt  on  board  the  boat  for  the  use  of  his 
Majest3''s  sloop. 

Dated  at  Brunswick,  21  February  1766. 

W:\i.  Dry. 


(COPY.) 

Brunswick  the  2  2d  February  1766. 
Sir, 

In  answer  to  your  letter  I  can  only  observe 
that  as  3'ou  have  thought  it  expedient  to  redress 
the  grievances  which  were  the  pretended  causes 
of  the  town  of  Wilmington's  withholding  the 
necessary  provisions  for  his  Majesty's  Sloops, 
I  should  imagine  the  contractor's  agent  would 
meet  with  no  obstruction  at  present  in  obtain- 
ing the  necessary  supply.  If  the  provisions 
are  not  brought  to  the  Viper  tomorrow  I  desire 
you  will  inform  me  b}^  a  line. 
I  am,  &c. 

Wm.  Tryon. 
To  Capt.  Lobb. 


I20  A  Colonial   Officer 


Viper  Sloop,  Brunswick, 

24  Feb'y,  1766. 
Sir, 

I  received  your  Excellency's  letter  of  the 
2 2d  inst.  sigiiifyiug  to  me  your  Excellenc^-'s 
desire  of  being  acquainted  if  the  provisions  did 
not  arrive  the  23d,  and  in  return  beg  leave  to 
acquaint  your  Excellency  they  are  not  yet 
arrived.  I  am  with  respect, 
Your  Excellency's 

Most  obedient  humble  servant, 

Jacob  Lobb. 
To  His  Excellenc}^  Governor  Tryon. 


(COPY.) 

Brunswick  the  24  Februar}^  1766. 
Mr.  Mayor. 

Capt.  Lobb  having  lodged  a  complaint  with 
me,  dated  the  2 2d  inst.  that  the  Contractor's 
boat,  with  provisions  for  the  use  of  his  Majest3''s 
ships  was  detained  at  Wilmington  and  the 
boatmen  put  into  gaol  by  the  inhabitants  of 
that  town,  I  desire  to  know  the  proper  causes 
for  such  conduct  that  I  may  transmit  them  to 
his  Majesty.  The  Viper  sloop  is  at  present 
without  bread.  I  do  therefore  require  3'our 
assistance  that  the  contractor  may  be  furnished 
with  the  necessary  provisions  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. 

I  am  Sir,  &c.- 

Wm.  Tryon. 
Moses  John  De  Rosset,  Esq. 


And  His  Toiks.  12  r 

(COPY.) 

Wilmington  28  Febrimr}^  1766. 
Sir, 

Your  Excellency's  letter  dated  the  24tli 
iiist.  came  to  my  hands  yesterday  noon,  and 
after  consulting  the  Aldermen  upon  the  con- 
tents of  it  I  find  Capt.  Lobb  has  been  misin- 
formed in  regard  to  the  contractors  boat  with 
provisions  for  his  Majesty's  ships  being  stopt. 
I  shall  therefore  take  the  libert}^  to  relate  to 
your  Excellency  the  facts  as  they  really  hap- 
pened. 

Upon  the  gentlemen  of  the  town  and  country 
round  having  information  that  Capt.  Eobb  had 
seized  several  vessels  coming  into  this  river 
for  want  of  stamped  papers,  notwithstanding 
their  producing  certain  certificates  from  the 
several  officers  of  the  customs  that  no  stamped 
papers  were  to  be  had  at  the  port  from  whence 
they  came,  an  agreement  was  entered  into  not 
to  supply  his  Majesty's  ships  with  any  more 
provisions  unless  the  particular  restrictions  on 
this  port  were  taken  off,  and  in  consequence  of 
that  agreement  no  person  would  supply  the 
Contractor  with  any,  so  that  your  Excellency 
will  find  no  provisions  were  on  board  the  boat. 
x\s  to  the  boatmen  being  put  in  gaol,  it  was 
done  by  the  people  who  had  collected  them- 
selves together  to  procure  a  redress  of  their 
grievances,  and  to  prevent  their  going  down, 
and  not  only  they  but  every  other  person  going 
to  Brunswick  was  stopped. 

Since   the   accommodation   of  matters  with. 


122  A  Colonial  Officer 

the  Commanding  Officers  of  the  King's  ships, 
your  Excellency  has  no  doubt  been  informed 
that  a  supply  of  provisions  has  been  sent  them, 
and  3'our  Excellency  may  be  assured  of  the 
best  endeavors  of  this  Corporation  to  forward 
his  Majesty's  service.  At  the  same  time  they 
can't  help  expressing  their  concern  that  your 
Excellenc}'  should  on  ever^-  occasion,  \a.y  the 
whole  blame  of  every  transaction  to  the  oppo- 
sition made  to  the  Stamp  Act  on  this  Borough, 
when  it  is  so  w^ell  known  the  whole  county  has 
been  equally  concerned  in  it. 

I  am  further  instructed  by  the  corporation 
to  assure  your  Excellency  that  his  Majesty 
has  not  a  sett  of  more  lo3^al  subjects  in  an}^ 
part  of  his  dominions  than  the  inhabitants  of 
this  borough. 

I  am  with  the  greatest  respect  Sir, 
Your  Excellency's  most  obedient 
And  most  humble  servant, 

Moses  Jxo.  De  Rosset. 

The  situation,  after  all  the  excitement  had 
passed,  is  given  by  Governor  Tryon  in  the  two 
following  letters,  the  first  addressed  on  the  3d 
day  of  March  to  Conway,  and  the  second,  dated 
April  5th,  to  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury: 


And  His  Times.  123 

North  Carolina, 
Brunswick  the  3d  March  1766. 

The   Right   Honorable    Henry    Seymour  Con- 

luay,  Esq.: 

The  dispatches  I  had  the  honor  to  direct  to 
3^ou  on  the  25th  of  last  month,  I  laid  before 
his  ]\Iajest3''s  Council,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
extract  from  the  Council  Journal.  My  procla- 
mation of  the  26th  past  I  understand  has  given 
general  satisfaction  to  the  inhabitants  con- 
cerned in  the  late  disturbances  from  its  mode- 
ration. As  I  had  no  power  to  repress  their 
tumults  it  was  thought  most  expedient  not  to 
inflame  grievances.  The  General  Assembl}^  I 
shall  prorogue  from  time  to  time  till  I  have 
the  honor  to  receive  his  Majesty's  further 
instructions. 

I  find  by  the  public  papers  that  those  Colo- 
nies who  have  held  Assemblies  in  the  present 
times  have  entered  warmly  into  disputes  rela- 
tive to  the  Stamp  x^ct  without  doing  au}^ 
business  for  his  Majesty's  interests,  or  the 
benefit  of  the  Colonies.  As  I  have  therefore 
as  3^et  had  no  disputes  with  the  General  As- 
senibl}',  I  esteem  it  advisable  to  prevent,  as 
much  as  possible,  any  breach  in  the  Legisla- 
ture, as  b}'  this  caution  I  think  I  shall  be  best 
a-ble  to  support  the  honor  and  dignity  of  gov- 
ernment till  I  can  be  informed  of  the  resolu- 
tions taken  by  his  Alajesty  and  his  Parliament 
to  terminate  the  present  disturbances  in  these 
provinces.  If  it  should  ever  be  found  neces- 
sar}'  to  send  military'  force  into  this  Colon^^, 


124  -^  Colonial  Officer 

the  first  week  in  October  is  the  soonest  they 
should  arrive,  if  brought  from  a  more  north- 
ward country.  Were  they  to  land  in  the  heat 
of  summer  this  climate  would  be  as  fatal  to 
them  as  the  climate  of  Pensacola  has  proved 
to  the  troops  sent  there.  Capt  Lobb  has 
acquainted  me  he  has  received  the  25th  past 
twenty  two  days  provision  from  the  Contractor. 
I  have  enclosed  a  copy  of  the  Mayor  of  Wil- 
mington's letter  in  answer  to  mine  put  up  with 
the  dispatches  of  the  25th  of  February,  directed 
to  the  Mayor. 

Capt  Dalrymple  has  made  his  report  to  me 
that  the  cannon  at  Fort  Johnston  are  almost 
all  cleared  of  the  spikes,  and  that  without  any 
prejudice  to  the  guns.  Mr.  Randolph,  Sur- 
veyor General  of  his  Majestj^'s  Customs,  who 
is  now  with  me  on  his  return  from  Charles 
Town  has,  at  my  request,  reinstated  Mr.  Pen- 
nington in  his  office  of  Comptroller  for  this 
port.  I  must  beg  leave  to  mention  Capt  Phipps 
to  you.  Sir,  who  takes  charge  of  these  dis- 
patches and  to  refer  you  to  him  for  au}^  further 
particulars  relative  to  the  disturbances  here, 
he  having  been  present  and  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  every  step  that  was  taken.  The 
spirit  and  zeal  he  has  shown  while  on  this 
station  for  his  Majesty's  service,  and  the  honor 
of  his  profession  does  him  great  credit. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  great  respect 
and  esteem,  &c  &c. 


And  His  Times.  125 

Brunswick  5tli  April  1766. 
TJic  Right  Hon'ble   The  Lords  Coiuiuissioncrs 

of  his  Majesty  s  Treasury : 

I  was   honored  with   your   Lordships  com- 
mands on  the  25th  of  March  last  by  the  favor 
of  Mr.  Lowndes's  letter  of  the  14th  of  Septem- 
ber 1765   requiring  me  to  give  my  assistance 
to  the  Distributor  of  the  Stamps  in  the  execu- 
tion    of    his    office.      Some    stamps    for    this 
province  arrived  here  from  Virginia  the  28th 
of  November  last  in  the   Diligence  Sloop  of 
War;  but  as  \\x.  Houston,  Distributor  of  the 
Stamps,   was    obliged   publicly    to   resign  his 
office  in  the   Court  House  of  Wilmington  on 
the  1 6th  of  the  same  month,  a  copy  of  which 
I  enclose,  I  desired  Capt  Phipps  to  keep  the 
stamps  on   board  the   Diligence.     They  were 
lately  removed  into  his  Majesty's   Sloop,  the 
Viper,  Capt  Lobb  Commanding,  the  Diligence 
having    sailed  for   England.     My   endeavors, 
my   Lords,  to  promote  the  circulation  of  the 
stamps  in  this  province  have  been  accompanied 
with  my  warmest  zeal,  as  I  flatter  myself  the 
letter  I  wrote  on  that  subject  to  Mr.  Conway, 
one  of  his  IMajesty's  principal  Secretaries  of 
State   will  testify.  "^  The   ill    success  that  has 
attended  this  discharge  of  my  duty  has  given 
me  real  concern.      Since  the  riotous  assembly 
of  men  in  Wilmington  and  Brunswick  on  the 
19th,  20th  and  2ist  of  February  last,  there  has 
been  no  disturbances  in  the  province,  the  ports 
have  never  been  shut,  and  entries  and  clear- 
ances are  made  in  the  form  that  was  practiced 


126  A  Colonial  Officer 

before  the  Stamp  Act  was  appointed  by  Parlia- 
ment to  take  effect.  I  continue  in  opinion  that 
these  Southern  provinces  will  regulate  their 
further  obedience  and  conduct  agreeable  to  the 
measures  that  are  adopted  b^^  the  more  formid- 
able colonies  to  the  Northward. 

I  am,  my  Lords,  with  all  possible  esteem 
and  respect,  &c. 

The  foregoing  facts  were  well  known,  though 
only  by  tradition,  before  the  discovery  of 
Trj^on's  letter-book  in  London  in  1S48. 

The  events  the}^  describe  were  not,  in  the 
ordinar}^  sense,  great  historical  events,  it  is 
true,  but  they  were  highly  creditable  to  the 
actors  in  them,  and  show  conclusive!}-  that  the 
spirit  of  Liberty  manifested  itself,  to  sa}-  the 
least,  as  boldly,  intelligentl}^  and  promptly 
among  North  Carolinians  in  the  early  days 
as  elsewhere,  and  that  they  had  as  just  an 
appreciation  of  their  rights  under  the  British 
constitution  as  the  most  enlightened  subjects 
of  the  Crown  at  home  or  in  the  other  Colonies. 
And  yet  the  historians  of  the  United  States, 
while  carefully  noting  similar  events  in  the 
other  Colonies,  have,  without  an  exception, 
omitted  from  their  pages  any  mention  of  this 
first  and  only  open,  defiant,  armed  resistance 
to  the  Stamp  Act  which  occurred  in  America — 


Axi)  His  Timp:s.  127 

just  as  for  a  long  time  the}^  ignored  the  first 
Declaration  of  Independence,  which  was  pro- 
claimed in  Mecklenburg  County  in  the  same 
State,  and  the  first  resolutions  of  a  Provincial 
Congress  directing  the  Delegates  to  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  to  declare  in  favor  of  inde- 
pendence, which  were  passed  at  Halifax  on 
the  1 2th  day  of  xA.pril,  1776,  more  than  a  month 
before  the  celebrated  resolutions  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Assembly  on  the  same  subject. 

The  blame  for  these  oversights — for  it  is  not 
to  be  presumed  that  the  neglect  was  inten- 
tional— rests  primarily  upon  the  people  of 
North  Carolina,  who  have  ever  been  indifferent, 
if  not  averse,  to  claiming  their  own  from  the 
Muse  of  History. 


Note. — As  several  of  our  historians  have  mentioned  a  cer- 
tain duel  fought  by  Captain  Alex.  Simpson  and  Lieutenant 
Thomas  Whitehurst  of  the  ship  J'iper,  about  the  time  of  the 
Stamp- Act  excitement  on  the  Cape  Fear  ;  and  as  not  one  of 
the  statements  given  by  these  writers  is  correct,  it  may  be  well 
to  give  a  true  version  of  the  affair,  as  taken  from  the  records. 

Wheeler,  in  his  history,  says  that  in  February,  1766,  a  duel 
occurred  between  these  parties — that  Simpson  sympathized 
with  the  Colonists,  and  Whitechurst  (Whitehurst)  favored 
Tryon  ;  that  Whitehurst  being  killed,  Simpson  was  arrested, 
tried  before  Ch.  J.  Berry  and  acquitted  ;  that  Tryon  insinuated 
connivance  on  the  part  of  Judge  Berry,  summoned  him  before 
the  Council,  and  the  Judge,  in  a  frenzy  of  apprehension,  com- 


128  A  Colonial  Officer 

ttiitted  suicide.  Aud  Wheeler  quotes  Martin  as  authority  for 
his  statement. 

"Shocco  "  Jones,  in  his  "  Defence  of  North  Carolina,"  savs 
Simpson  was  condemned,  but  escaped  and  fled  to  England. 

Moore,  in  his  History,  says  that  Simpson  (not  Whitehurst) 
was  killed,  and  that  Whitehurst  was  convicted  of  murder,  but 
that  Judge  Berr}'  "  granted  him  enough  time  before  execution 
to  enable  him  to  escape,"  and  that  "Tryon  was  furious  and 
so  wrought  upon  the  fears  of  Judge  Berry  that  he  committed 
suicide." 

In  the  first  place,  the  duel  occurred  at  Brunswick,  March 
i8th,  1765,  and  was  caused,  not  by  the  Stamp- Act  excitement, 
but  by  a  ivonian,  according  to  Tryou's  report  to  the  Board  of 
Trade.  It  was  a  brutal  affair,  in  which  Simpson  not  only 
broke  Whitehurst' s  thigh  with  his  shot,  but  broke  his  head  with 
the  butt  of  his  pistol,  breaking  the  butt  and  pan  of  the  pistol 
at  the  same  time.  Simpson  himself  was  shot  behind  the  right 
shoulder,  the  ball  coming  out  under  his  arm.  The  witnesses 
before  the  coroner's  jury  were  midshipmen  James  Brewster 
and  James  Mooringe.  Simpson  escaped  the  night  before 
Governor  Dobbs  died,  28th  March,  and  Tryon  issued  a  procla- 
mation offering  ^50  reward  for  his  arrest ;  and  wrote  to  Gov- 
ernor Fauquier  of  Virginia,  saying  that,  as  Simpson  had  some 
months  previoush'  married  "Miss  Annie  Pierson,  daughter 
of  Mrs.  Ramsburg,  whose  husband  keeps  a  tavern  in  Norfolk," 
and  as  Mrs.  Simpson  had  returned  to  Virginia,  he  suspected 
Simpson  had  gone  there— that  "the  weak  state  of  his  health 
and  the  dangerous  condition  of  his  wound,"  strengthened  this 
conjecture,  and  it  was  "not  probable  that  he  should  undertake  a 
long  voyage  ;"  and  he  characterized  Simpson's  conduct  as 
"  extraordinary."  It  certainly  was  extraordinary,  and  why  the 
seconds  or  witnesses  permitted  it  is  incomprehensible.  vSimp- 
son  afterwards  surrendered  himself,  was  tried  at  October  Term, 
1765  (a  month  before  the  stamp  ship  arrived),  was  convicted  of 
manslaughter,  and  branded  with  the  letter  M  on  the  ball  of  the 
thumb  of  his  left  hand,  in  open  Court,  and  discharged — as 
appears  by  the  record  of  the  trial,  still  preserved  at  the  court- 
house in  Wilmington.     The  allegation  that  Judge  Berry's  sui- 


And  His  TniRvS.  129 

ci.le  was  the  result  of  his  fright  at  the  escape  of  Simpsou.  there- 
fore, is  wholly  untrue. 

lu  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  dated  February  ist,  1766, 
Tryon  says,  "Mr.  Berry,  Chief  Justice  of  this  Province,  shot 
himself  in  the  head  the  21st  Deer  last,  and  died  in  Wilmington 
the  29th  of  the  same  month.  The  coroner's  inquest  sat  on  the 
body  and  brought  in  a  verdict  'Lunacy.'"  This  was  two 
months  after  Simpson's  conviction,  and  nearly  a  year  after  the 
duel.  The  place  of  Judge  Berry's  suicide  was  in  a  house  oppo- 
site the  present  court-house  at  Wilmington. 


130  A   Colonial  Officer 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1768-1771. 


The  Regulators'  War— Its  Origin   and  History— General  Wad- 
dell's  Connection  with  it. 


^  f  "^HE  Stamp  Act  was  repealed  in  March , 
-*-  1766,  and  on  the  25th  of  June  Governor 
Tryon  issued  a  proclamation  announcing  the 
fact,  in  which — having  learned  some  valuable 
lessons  in  the  months  preceding,  and  having 
determined  to  change  his  tactics  and  play  a 
conciliator}'  role — he  severel_v  denounced  the 
extortions  which  had  been  practiced  in  the 
Western  Counties  by  the  officers  of  the  Courts 
and  others,  and  sternlv  forbade  these  officers 
to  take  more  than  their  legal  fees  thereafter. 
He  also  indulged  in  a  somewhat  tender  appeal 
to  the  people  to  render  a  cheerful  obedience  to 
the  legislative  authority  of  the  mother  countr3^ 
Immediatelj^  upon  the  appearance  of  this 
proclamation  an  amusing,  and  somewhat  dis- 
gusting, exchange  of  felicitations  took  place 
between  the  Maj^or,  Recorder  and  Aldermen 
of  Wilmington,  and  the  Governor;   but  each 


And  Hls  Times.  131 

party  to  this  performauce  was  conscious  of  the 
hollow  insincerity  of  the  proceedings,  and  each 
mistrusted  the  other.  The  Legislature,  which 
had  not  met  since  May,  1765,  was  called  together 
in  November,  and,  although  they  expressed 
their  pleasure  at  and  returned  thanks  for  the 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  declared  their 
loyalt}'  to  the  Crown,  they  did  not  humiliate 
themselves  in  any  way.  They  did,  however, 
foolishl}^  appropriate  a  large  amount  to  build  a 
mansion  for  the  Governor  at  Newbern  ;  but 
their  excuse  was  that  the  Assembl}'  had  pre- 
A'iously  promised  to  do  it,  in  consideration  of 
the  repeal  of  an  act  to  build  at  Tower  Hill  on 
the  Xeuse.  The  cost  of  this  ''palace,"  as  it 
was  called,  and  as  it  really  was,  was  over 
$75,000 — an  enormous  sum  for  those  times. 
Over  the  main  entrance  to  it  was  a  pompous 
Latin  inscription,  said  to  have  been  written  by 
Sir  Wm.  Draper.  General  ]\Iiranda,  who 
visited  it  with  Judge  JMartin  in  1783,  said  that 
his  own  countr}^  (South  America)  contained 
no  building  equal  to  it. 

While  this  palace  was  in  course  of  construc- 
tion, and  as  if  to  aggravate  the  general  complaint 
of  extravagance  in  public  expenditure,  Tr3^on 
organized  an  escort  to  accompany  him  in  person- 


132  A  Colonial  Officer 

ally  running  the  boundary  line  between  the 
Cherokee  nation  and  the  Province.  The  escort 
consisted  of  about  a  hundred  men,  selected  from 
the  Rowan  and  Mecklenburg  regiments,  the 
detachment  from  the  former  commanded  b}^ 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Frohock,  and  from  the  latter 
by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Moses  Alexander,  and 
the  whole  under  Colonel  Hugh  Waddell.  There 
were  also  an  Adjutant  General,  an  Aide,  and 
a  Chaplain,  all  with  high  rank  and  pa}^  The 
expedition  lasted  nearly  a  month,  beginning 
on  the  19th  May,  1767,  and  it  was  because  of 
his  conduct  on  this  expedition  that  Tryon 
received  from  the  Cherokees  the  soubriquet  of 
"Wolf  of  Carolina." 

Meanwhile  the  people,  of  the  Western  part 
of  the  Colon}'  especially,  were  growing  more 
restless  under  the  continued  exactions  and 
extortions  practiced  upon  thembj^  local  officers ; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  were,  in  the  Eastern  section,  greatly  dis- 
satisfied with  the  Navigation  Act  and  other 
embarrassments  to  their  trade. 

Even  men  of  well  known  loyalt}',  like  Hugh 
Waddell,  were  severely'  tried  by  the  course 
affairs  were  t&king.  The  discontent  in  the 
West  was  because  of  local  grievances,  tliat  in 


And  His  TimKvS.  133 

the  Kast  because  of  the  legislation  of  Parlia- 
ment/'' 

A  "Serious  Address"  had  been  published 
in  Granville  County,  and  in  August,  1766, 
duriuQ:  a  session  of  the  Inferior  Court  of 
Orange,  a  number  of  men  had  entered  the 
court-house  and  handed  a  paper  to  the  Clerk 
to  read  aloud  in  regard  to  the  local  grievances 
of  the  people  of  that  County. 

With  this  event  began  the  troubles  which 
culminated  in  what  is  known  as  the  "Regu- 
lators' War,"  a  contest  which,  beginning  in  a 
temperate  protest  against  the  conduct  of  local 
officers,  degenerated,  under  the  leadership  of  a 
cunning  and  cowardly  fellow,  into  an  utterly 
indefensible  outbreak  against  all  law,  which, 
if  not  suppressed,  threatened  the  overthrow  of 


*November  15,  1767,  John  Crawford,  member  from  Anson, 
resigned  his  seat  and  resignation  accepted  by  House.  Tryon 
forbore  to  issue  writ  for  new  election  until  he  could  hear  from 
Home  Government.  Earl  Hillsborough,  June  nth,  1768,  says 
he  was  right;  that  "there  is  no  precedent  of  a  member 
resigning  his  seat  in  Parliament,  and  the  usages  and  prece- 
dents of  the  Hpuse  of  Commons  being  adopted  by  the  Assem- 
bly of  North  Carolina,  the  House  was  mistaken  in  accepting 
the  resignation  of  Crawford."  This  seems  to  verify  the  old 
maxim  in  regard  to  office-holders,  viz.:  "Few  die,  and  none 
resign." 


134  A  Colonial  Officer 

an}'  form  of  government  and  the  destruction  of 
social  order.  The  name  "Regulator"  was 
adopted  at  a  meeting  held  at  Sand}-  Creek,  in 
what  was  then  Orange,  and  is  now  Randolph 
Count}',  on  the  2 2d  of  March,  1767,  at  which 
a  written  agreement  was  drawn  up  and  an 
association  was  formed  "for  regulating  public 
grievances."  This  agreement  contemplated 
no  violence,  and  only  bound  the  signers  to  pay- 
no  more  taxes  until  satisfied  they  were  agree- 
able to  law  and  were  properly  applied ;  to  pay 
no  more  than  legal  fees  to  any  officer  unless 
forced  to  do  so;  to  meet  often  for  conference 
with  their  representatives  in  regard  to  amend- 
ing the  laws;  to  elect  better  men  to  office,  and 
to  petition  the  authorities  for  redress. 

But  their  leader,  Herman  Husbands,  though 
uneducated,  was  a  mischievous  and  turbulent 
demagogue  and  a  canting  hypocrite,  who, 
under  the  garb  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
(Quakers),  from  which  he  was  expelled  for 
immorality,  concealed  an  ambitious  and  venom- 
ous spirit.  The  Sandy  Creek  agreement  was 
but  the  first  step  ^in  his  programme.  He 
set  himself  diligently  to  work  to  inflame  the 
passions  of  the  people,  to  exaggerate  the  evils 
of  which  they  justly  complained,  and  to  incite 
them  to  violence.     He  passed  most  of  his  time 


And  HIvS  Timks.  135 

ill  going  about  haranguing  crowds  of  the  igno- 
rant and  untutored,  and  plied  his  vocation  even 
on  Sundays. 

He  had  a  coadjutor  in  Edmund  Fanning, 
who  was  Colonel  of  the  militia  of  Orange  and 
was  a  Court  Officer  who,  by  his  extortions  and 
offensive  conduct  generally,  was  the  most 
obnoxious  man  in  the  Province.  Fanning  did 
all  he  could  to  aggravate  the  Regulators,  and 
the}'  repaid  him  with  interest  whenever  they 
could.  Without  reciting  every  detail  of  the 
progress  of  the  Regulators'  outbreak,  it  will 
suffice  to  saj'  that  after  various  interviews 
between  the  agents  of  the  Association  and  the 
Governor,  and  after  matters  had  well  nigh 
reached  a  peaceable  adjustment,  Husbands, 
who  dreaded  nothing  so  much  as  the  stopping 
of  his  trade  of  demagogue  and  agitator,  in- 
vented a  new  series  of  grievances  against  a  new 
set  of  alleged  criminals,  namel}^  the  members 
of  the  Assembly  and  the  Treasurers  of  the 
Province.  Governor  Tr^-on  laid  these  new 
grievances  before  the  Council,  but  the}'  re- 
quested him  to  notify  the  Regulators  that  no 
change  would  be  made  in  the  propositions 
alread}'  submitted  to  them  b}-  the  Governor, 
which  included  a  promise  that  the  officers  who 
had  been  guilt}-  of  extortion  should  be  prose- 


136  A  Colonial  Officer 

ciited.  Unfortunately  for  them  the  Regula- 
tors were  guided  absolutely  by  Husbands,  who 
exercised  an  unbounded  influence  over  them, 
and  consequently  matters  remained  in  the  same 
condition  until  the  arrest  and  trial  of  Hus- 
bands for  a  riot  at  Hillsborough,  where  Gov- 
ernor Tryon,  who  had  been  inspecting  the 
militia  farther  West,  appeared  at  the  head  of 
eleven  hundred  men,  while  more  than  three 
times  that  number  of  Regulators  were  in  the 
vicinity  awaiting  the  result  of  the  trial.  While 
his  own  trial  was  pending,  Husbands,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  written  statement,  agreed  with 
Fanning,  like  a  selfish  and  cowardl}^  traitor, 
to  abandon  the  cause  of  the  Regulators  pro- 
vided he  was  released. 

Fanning  was  indicted  at  the  same  term  of 
the  Court  for  extortion.  Husbands  was  acquit- 
ted, and  Fanning,  who  was  probably  tried  by 
the  same  jury,  was  convicted  in  five  cases,  but 
was  only  fined  a  penny  and  costs  in  each  case, 
because  he  pleaded  a  misconstruction  of  the 
statute  regulating  fees,  and  showed  that  he  got 
the  judgment  of  the  County  Court  in  his  favor 
before  taking  the  fees. 

He  ought,  doubtless,  to  have  been  severely 
punished,  and  the  reputation  of  the  Court 
suffered  in  the  esteem  of  all  fair-minded  men 


And  His  Times.  137 

when  such  a  judgment  was  prouounced.  The 
record  of  one  of  the  Judges,  Maurice  Moore,  as 
a  man  friendly  disposed  to  the  Regulators,  as 
well  as  tradition  in  his  family,  justifies  the 
belief  that  he  did  not  concur  with  the  other 
two  Judges  in  their  sentence. 

The  trial  took  place  in  September,  1768,  and,, 
after  the  adjournment  of  Court,  Tryon  issued 
a  proclamation  pardoning  all  concerned  in  the 
late  disturbances,  except  about  a  dozen  who 
were  named.  In  the  judgment  of  many  at 
that  time,  and,  of  all  reflecting  persons  now, 
Tryon  ought  to  have  left  the  violators  of  the 
law  to  the  prosecuting  officers  and  the  Courts, 
until  their  acts  assumed  more  serious  propor- 
tions, which  they  did  a  year  or  so  afterwards. 

During  the  year  1769  the  spirit  of  the  Regu- 
lators, which  the  proceedings  of  the  Court  at 
Hillsborough  appeared  only  to  aggravate, 
manifested  itself  in  new  acts  of  violence,  and 
although,  by  the  express  order  of  the  British 
Ministr}^,  Trj^on  issued  on  the  9th  of  Septem- 
ber an  additional  proclamation  of  pardon  to 
everybody,  without  exception,  who  had  been 
concerned  in  the  Regulators'  disturbances, 
these  disturbances  continued,  and  the  service 
of  process  bj-  the  sheriffs  and  their  deputies, 
became  nearly  impossible.  The  Regulators 
10 


138  A   Colonial  Officer 

having  petitioned  the  Governor  for  a  new  As- 
sembly he  granted  it,  and  the  new  Assembl}^ 
met  in  October,  1769.  The  Regulators  had 
elected  enough  members  of  this  body  to  effect 
a  change  of  about  thirty  votes.  This  body  was 
soon  dissolved  by  the  Governor. 

New  organizations  of  the  Regulators  were 
formed,  and  they  had  extended  over  a  wide  area 
b}^  the  beginning  of  the  3'ear  1770.  In  the 
region  around  Salisbury,  as  reported  by  Judge 
Moore,  who  held  Court  there  in  March,  it  was 
impossible  to  collect  taxes  or  levy  an  execu- 
tion, which,  as  he  said,  were  "plain  proofs, 
among  others,  that  their  designs  have  extended 
further  than  to  promote  public  inquiry  into 
the  conduct  of  public  affairs."  At  Hillsboro, 
in  September,  when  the  Court  met,  with  Judge 
Henderson  presiding,  the  greatest  outrage  or 
series  of  outrages  yet  perpetrated  by  the  Reg- 
ulators took  place.  They  insulted  and  cruelly 
beat  some  members  of  the  bar,  and  going  into 
the  court-house  in  a  riotous  manner,  with 
Husbands  at  their  head,  thej^  demanded  of 
Judge  Henderson  that  he  should  try  their 
leaders,  and  should  take  the  jury  from  their 
number. 

The  Judge   adjourned    the   Court  and  that 
night  fled  the  town.     They  then  held  a  mock 


And  His  Times.  139 

court,  and  made  scandalous  entries  on  the 
docket.  On  the  1 2th  of  November  the}-  burned 
Judge  Henderson's  barn,  and  on  the  14th  his 
house.  Again  a  new  Assembly  was  called,  and 
met  at  Newbern  in  December,  1770.  It  pro- 
vided, from  the  first,  for  relief  to  the  people  by 
various  acts,  one  of  which  was  to  refund  the 
amount  of  taxes  alleged  to  have  been  illegally 
collected  since  1768. 

Threats  having  been  made  by  the  Regula- 
tors that  they  would  go  to  Newbern,  where  the 
Legislature  was  in  session,  to  prevent  Fanning 
from  being  seated  as  a  member,  the  Governor 
called  out  the  militia,  and  the  trenches  were 
manned  for  the  protection  of  the  Legislature. 

Afterwards,  when  Husbands,  who  was  a 
member  from  Orange,  was  expelled  for  lying 
and  for  threatening  the  Assembly  with  the 
Regulators  in  case  of  his  confinement  by  the 
House,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  Regulators 
were  actually  preparing  to  justify  these  threats 
by  marching  to  Newbern. 

Again,  when  the  Assembly  was  about  to 
adjourn,  news  came  that  the  Regulators  were 
in  large  force  at  Cross  Creek  (now  Fayette- 
ville)  and  had  declared  their  purpose  to  go  to 
Newbern  and  burn  the  Governor's  "  palace." 
Thereupon  the  Assembly  voted  the  Governor 


I40  A  Colonial  Officer 

means  of  defence.  These  threats  were  not 
carried  into  execution,  but  the  disorders  grew 
worse  continually,  and  other  Judges  were  beaten 
and  Courts  broken  up. 

It  now  became  evident  that  but  one  course 
remained  to  be  pursued  towards  the  Regula- 
tors, if  government  of  any  kind  was  to  be 
maintained  in  North  Carolina,  and  accordingly 
the  Governor,  urged  by  the  Council^  the  Courts^ 
and  the  Legislature ^'^  made  his  preparations  to 
march  against  the  Regulators  and  put  an  end 
to  their  outrages. 

He  assembled  about  eleven  hundred  men, 
composed  of  detachments  from  the  counties  in 
the  Hast,  and  from  Wake,  and  marched  to 
Orange.  The  Regulators  numbered  about 
two  thousand.  They  met  near  the  banks  of 
th.e  Alamance,  Notwithstanding  the  conduct 
of  the  Regulators  in  cruelly  flogging  two  of 
the  Governor's  officers  (Captains  Walker  and 
Ashe),  whom  they  had  captured  while  on  a 
scouting  expedition,  the  course  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, according  to  every  account  of  the  affair, 
exhibited  the  utmost  aversion  to  shedding 
blood.  Messengers  had  passed  between  the 
forces,  seeking  a   reconciliation  in  vain.     On 

*See  note  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


And  His  Times.  141 

the  1 6th  of  May  the}'-  had  approached  within 
a  half  mile  of  each  other,  and  the  Governor 
sent  a  message  demanding  unconditional  sur- 
render. Husbands,  who  was  still  the  leader 
of  the  Regulators,  returned  his  defiance  and 
seeuTed  determined  to  fight. 

They  came  within  one  hundred  3'ards  of 
each  other,  and  the  Governor  made  a  civil  and 
a  militar}'  officer  read  a  proclamation  in  the 
nature  of  a  riot  act.  The}'  then  approached 
until  the  ranks  passed  each  other,  making  a 
retrograde  movement  necessary  to  regain  their 
places.  They  then  stood  for  an  hour,  at  a 
distance  of  twenty-five  yards,  quarreling  and 
abusing  each  other,  when  the  comedy  was 
ended  by  the  furious  shout  of  the  Governor: 
"Fire!  fire  on  them  or  on  me,"  and  the  battle 
began.  Husbands,  like  the  cowardly  cur  he  was, 
immediate^'  fled ;  those  of  his  followers  who  did 
not  follow  his  example  took  to  the  trees,  Indian 
fashion,  and  in  a  little  while  afterwards  were 
routed. 

Before  and  during  the  fight  the  Governor 
had  sent  flags  of  truce,  both  of  which  were 
shot  down.  His  loss  was  nine  killed  and  sixt}' 
wounded;  that  of  the  Regulators  was  twenty 
killed  and  an  unknown  number  wounded. 


142  A  Colonial   Officer 

Previous  to  Tryon's  expedition  to  the  Ala- 
mance in  1771/^'  Waddell  had  been  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  General,  and  was  the  ranking 
officer  of  the  Province,  and  the  most  expe- 
rienced officer  in  it,  although  not  yet  thirty- 
five  years  old.  Preparatory  to  that  expedition 
he  had  been  sent  to  Salisbury  to  take  command 
of  a  force  which  was  to  co-operate  with  the 
troops    under   Tryon's    immediate    command, 

*[Tryon's  Letter-Book.] 

No.  70.  Earl  Hillsborough. 

Newbern  12  April  1771 
*********** 

The  next  day,  the  i8th  [March]  I  summoned  His  Majesty's 
Council,  related  to  them  some  reasons  that  prompted  me  to 
offer  my  service,  and  took  their  advice  on  the  expedieuc)'  of 
raising  forces  to  restore  peace  and  stability  to  government. 
They  approving  the  measure  I  lost  no  time  in  sending  requisi- 
tions to  almost  every  County  in  the  province  for  certain  quotas 
of  men,  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

*********** 

To  forward  this  business  I  went  myself  last  week  to  Wil- 
mington when  I  appointed  Mr.  Waddell  General  of  all  the 
forces  raised,  or  to  be  raised  against  the  insurgents,  and  expect 
he  will  get  seven  hundred  men  from  the  Western  Counties  to 
serve  under  his  immediate  command,  who  will  march  them 
into  the  settlement  of  the  insurgents  by  the  way  of  Salisbury 
while  I  bring  up  the  forces  from  the  Southern  and  Eastern 
parts,  and  break  into  their  settlements  on  the  east  side  of 
Orange  County.  In  my  excursion  to  Wilmington  I  had  the 
satisfaction  to  find  the  gentlemen  and  inhabitants  of  Cape  Fear 
unanimous  and  spirited  in  the  cause,  and  the  officers  successful 
in  recruiting.  ****** 


And  His  Times.  143 

who  went  from  the  k)w  countiy  ^iicl  from  Wake 
Count}'.  He  was  waiting  for  the  arrival  of 
some  ammunition  wagons,  which  had  to  make 
the  long  journey  from  Charleston,  S.  C,  before 
starting  with  his  force. 

When  the  wagons,  four  in  number,  reached 
Phifer's  Hill,  near  Concord,  they  were  seized 
and  the  ammunition  was  destroyed  by  some 
daring  young  fellows  calling  themselves 
"  Black  Boys,"  under  the  leadership  of  James 
White,  who  was  afterwards  a  brave  officer  in 
the  Revolution. 

These  young  men  sympathized  with  the 
Regulators  who,  as  they  had  been  led  to  believe, 
were  merely  resisting  oppression,  and  were 
guilty  of  no  lawlessness  or  other  crime.  The 
loss  of  his  ammunition  was  the  first  serious 
difficulty  that  General  Waddell  encountered, 
but  when  he  started  wath  three  hundred  and 
forty  men  to  join  Tryon,  and  had  reached  a 
point  a  few  miles  beyond  the  Yadkin  river,  he 
discovered  a  large  force,  a  much  larger  one 
than  his  own,  which  had  been  gathered  to 
oppose  his  march,  and  which  was  read}^  for  a 
fight.  The  officers  in  General  Waddell's  com- 
mand were,  Griffith  Rutherford  (afterwards  a 
distinguished  Revolutionary  officer,  who  at- 
tained the  rank  of  Brigadier  General ) ,  William 


144  A  Colonial  Officer 

Lindsay,  Adlai  Alexander,  Thomas  Neal, 
Frederick  Ross,  Robert  Shaw,  Samuel  Spencer, 
Robert  Harris,  Samuel  Snead,  and  William 
Luckie.  These  officers  held  a  council  of  war, 
and  drew  up  a  paper  which  the}-  signed,  dated 
"General  Waddell's  Camp,  Potts'  Creek,  loth 
May,  1771,"  which  reads  as  follows: 

By  a  Council  of  officers  of  the  Western 
detachment,  considering  the  great  superiorit}- 
of  the  insurgents  in  number,  and  the  resolution 
of  a  great  part  of  their  own  men  not  to  fight, 
it  was  resolved  that  the}^  should  retreat  across 
the  Yadkin. 

It  was  also  discovered  that  man}'  of  the 
detachment  were  communicating  with  the 
Regulators,  and  thereupon  General  Waddell 
retreated.  He  then  sent  a  dispatch  to  Tryon 
acquainting  him  with  the  situation  of  affairs, 
and  Tryon,  who  was  a  fearless  and  skillful 
officer,  immediately  moved  on  the  Regulators, 
and  the  "battle"  of  Alamance,  en  the  i6th 
May,  ended  the  so-called  Regulators'  war. 

General  Waddell  was  not  present  at  the 
Alamance  affair,  and  was  doubtless  glad  of  it, 
for,  while  his  duty  as  an  officer  was  plain,  he, 
like  Caswell,  Ashe,  Howe,  and  others,  whose 
patriotism  was  displayed  in  the  Revolution  so 
soon   afterwards,  was  averse   to  shedding  the 


And  His  Timks.  145 

blood  of  an}'  American,  even  to  sustain  just 
authorit}',  and,  like  them,  lie  was  a  true  friend 
of  libert}'.  But  the  conduct  of  the  Regulators 
forced  the  issue  between  law  and  mob  rule,  and 
left  no  alternative  to  the  authorities  but  the 
prompt  suppression  of  them  by  force. 

Notwithstanding  the  overwhelming  evidence 
spread  upon  the  records,  and  the  unanimous 
judgment  of  all  the  writers  upon  the  subject, 
including  the  two  ablest  apologists  of  the 
Regulators,  Caruthers  and  Wilej',  the  belief 
has  prevailed  to  some  extent  in  North  Caro- 
lina, and  very  generall}^  outside  of  the  State, 
that  the  Regulators  were  a  body  of  patriots 
whose  zeal  in  the  cause  of  liberty  could  brook 
no  restraint,  and  that  they  poured  out  the  first 
libation  to  her  on  American  soil,  at  the  battle 
of  Alamance  in  May,  1771,  in  resistance  to 
British  oppression.  This  is  a  total  perversion 
of  the  truth  of  histor}',  and  not  only  does  gross 
injustice,  but  actually  reverses  the  position  of 
parties  in  the  Revolution. 

The  truth  in  regard  to  the  Regulators  is 
contained  in  the  following  propositions,  viz : 

First.  That  they  were  but  a  small  minority 
of  the  people  of  North  Carolina. 

Second.  That  the}^  contended  for  no  great 
principle. 


146  A  Colonial  Officer 

T/iird.  That,  with  tM'o  or  three  exceptions, 
there  was  not  a  man  prominent  for  intellect  or 
virtue  in  their  organization. 

Fourth.  That  they  were  not  republicans. 

Fifth.  That  they  were  Tories  in  the  Revo- 
lution; and 

Sixth.  That  they  were  opposed  by  the  promi- 
nent Whig  leaders  of  that  da^-,  including  such 
men  as  Griffith  Rutherford,  Willie  Jones  and 
others,  who,  after  the  Revolution,  were  sus- 
pected of  radicalism. 

1.  Proof  of  the  first  proposition  will  not  be 
required  by  any  one  at  all  acquainted  with  the 
subject. 

2.  The  grievances  complained  of  by  the 
Regulators  were  pureU^  local,  and  arose  out  of 
the  extortions  and  malpractice  of  the  sheriffs, 
clerks,  registers  of  deeds  and  tax-collectors. 
The  offenders  were  their  fellow-subjects  and 
neighbors,  and  not  the  King  and  Parliament, 
to  wdioni  they  declared  their  lo3'alty  and  devo- 
tion in  the  strongest  terms,  and  proved  it  by 
being  Tories  in  the  Revolution.  The  taxes 
against  wdiich  they  protested  were  not  British 
taxes,  illegally  imposed,  but  taxes  imposed  by 
their  own  representatives  in  the  Assembly — 
representatives  with  whom,  as  declared  in  the 
Sandy    Creek    Association,  the}'    proposed  to 


And  His  Times.  147 

confer,  and  whom  they  proposed  to  displace 
with  better  men  if  they  did  not  do  right.  And 
if  the  original  purposes  of  that  Association 
had  been  carried  out  in  good  faith — if  by  con- 
certed action  they  had  persistently  indicted 
offenders  against  the  law,  and  had  sued  for 
the  penalties  provided  by  the  statute  (West- 
minster I),  and  had  tested  the  legality  of 
seizures  and  the  like,  instead  of  resorting  to  a 
"higher  law"  of  their  own,  and  enlisting  and 
training  men,  and  breaking  up  the  Courts, 
and  whipping  Judges  and  attorneys,  and 
attempting  with  armed  force  to  overawe  the 
Legislature,  and  committing  other  similar  out- 
rages— they  would  have  escaped  the  fate  that 
befel  them,  and  would  have  appeared  in  history 
in  a  very  different  light. 

3.  The  third  proposition — that  with  two  or 
three  exceptions,  their  organization  embraced 
no  man  prominent  for  intellect  or  virtue — 
cannot  be  denied. 

The  discussion  of  historical  questions  ought 
to  be  approached  without  prejudice  or  improper 
motives  of  any  kind ;  and,  therefore,  while  it 
is  natural  and  commendable  in  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Regulators  to  seek  to  vindicate 
their  conduct,  the  effort  cannot  be  justified 
either  by  distorting  facts,  or  by  imputing  false 


148  A  Colonial  Officer 

or  unworthy  motives  to  others.  It  has  been 
said  that  some  of  the  "gentr}-,"  as  some  of 
the  Eastern  men  were  invidiously  called,  had 
aided  in  suppressing  the  Regulators  because 
of  offended  pride  at  not  having  been  consulted 
upon  or  placed  in  charge  of  the  movement. 
There  is  no  foundation  whatever  for  this 
strange  assertion,  and  it  must  be  attributed, 
like  many  of  the  so-called  facts  which  filial 
pietjr  has  supplied  in  regard  to  the  Regula- 
tors, to  a  loose  tradition,  based  upon  unjust 
prejudices.  The  persons  to  whom  allusion  is 
made  as  the  "gentry,"  were,  almost  without 
exception,  men  who  owed  nothing  to  the  acci- 
dents of  birth  or  fortune,  but  had  earned  posi- 
tions of  respectability  b}'  their  public  services, 
their  superior  intelligence  and  force  of  char- 
acter. 

Those  who  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  recon- 
cile the  conduct  of  these  "gentry" — who  in 
1765  denounced  and  resisted  with  arms  the 
Stamp  Act  and  other  legislation  of  Parliament 
hostile  to  America — with  their  subsequent 
suppression  of  the  Regulators  in  1771,  confuse 
events  which  are  unconnected  with  each  other, 
which  arose  from  different  causes  and  were 
based  on  different  principles. 

The  men  of  1765,  as   British  subjects,  and 


And  His  Times.  149 

in  the  assertion  of  their  rights  as  such,  resisted 
the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  the  Crown  and 
Parliament,  and  proved  their  determination  to 
preserve  their  liberties.  In  i768-'7i,  although 
S3'mpathizing  with  the  Regulators  in  their 
local  troubles,  and  having  contempt  for  the 
officers  who  practiced  extortion  and  other  vil- 
lainies upon  them,  they  held  in  equal  contempt 
such  pestilent  demagogues  as  Husbands,  who, 
under  the  guise  of  virtuous  indignation  against 
these  local  grievances,  was  instigating  the 
more  ignorant  people  to  resist  lawful  author- 
ity— thereb}^  confounding  right  with  wrong, 
and  legitimate  with  illegimate  power,  and 
bringing  about  a  state  of  anarchy  in  the  Prov- 
ince. And  when,  under  his  leadership,  those 
misguided  people  undertook  to  stop  the  wheels 
of  government — when  they  broke  up  the 
Courts,  mobbed  the  Judges,  whipped  the 
attorne3'S,  defied  the  sheriffs  to  serve  au}^  kind 
of  process,  and  finally  took  up  arms  and  organ- 
ized themselves  into  a  lawless  mob,  defiant  of 
all  authorit}^  except  their  own  will — tJicn^  upon 
the  call  of  the  Governor,  in  pursuance  of  an 
Act  of  Assembly,  and  in  the  performance  of  a 
plain  duty  as  officers  and  citizens  who  were 
bound  to  maintain  the  peace  and  good  order  of 
society,  they  went  to  meet  force  with  force,  and 


150  A  Colonial  Officer 

to  suppress  a  revolt,  which — although  based 
upon  just  provocation  against  individuals  in 
its  incipiency — had  assumed  proportions  and 
was  contemplating  purposes  inconsistent  with 
the  preservation  of  the  forms  of  government, 
or  in  other  words,  which  meant  naked  anarch3\ 

The  warmest  apologist  of  the  Regulators 
has  never  justified  the  lawless  and  cruel  acts 
perpetrated  by  them — their  gathering  in  arms 
to  overawe  the  Legislature  and  rescue  Hus- 
bands, who  had  been  expelled  from  that  bod}^ 
and  afterwards  imprisoned,  and  the  various 
other  acts  leading  up  to  the  battle  of  Alamance. 

The  author  of  the  latest  history  of  North 
Carolina* — who,  it  is  proper  to  say,  is  in  no 
waj^  related  to  the  men  of  the  same  name  from 
the  Cape  Fear  country  who  figured  in  the 
troubles  of  those  times,  and  is  not  amenable 
to  the  charge  of  inherited  prejudice — speaking 
of  these  events,  sa3^s : 

These  misguided  people,  however  much 
justified  in  their  original  movements,  had 
become  an  intolerable  nuisance — an  impedi- 
ment alike  to  legislation  and  the  administra- 
tion of  public  justice.  '■''■  '■^-  *  Brutal  mobs 
ranged  unchallenged  from  where  Raleigh  now 
stands  to  Charlotte. 


s=I\Iajor  John  W.  Moore. 


And  His  Timks.  151 

And  again  lie  says : 

It  has  been  the  habit  in  North  Carolina  to 
assail  the  motives  of  Governor  Tryon  for  the 
military  movements  which  he  inaugurated  in 
the  month  of  March.  Whatever  ma}-  have 
been  his  previous  errors  and  mistakes,  there 
can  be  no  rational  denial  of  his  eminent  pru- 
dence and  propriety  on  this  occasion.  The 
Judges  of  the  Courts,  His  Majesty's  Council, 
and  the  House  of  Assembly  all  joined  in  insist- 
ing that  he  should  raise  the  forces  of  the  Prov- 
ince and  abate  a  nuisance  that  was  making 
North  Carolina  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  all 
civilized  communities.  Though  the  Regula- 
tion was  first  planned  in  resistance  to  the 
meanest  of  tyrannies,  it  had  become  the  eneni}^ 
of  all  true  liberty  and  order,  and  was  only  the 
tool  of  one  base  and  designing  man. 

The  conduct,  therefore,  of  the  "gentry"  in 
resisting  the  usurpations  of  the  King  and 
Parliament  on  the  one  hand,  and  in  aiding  to 
put  down  lawlessness  on  the  other,  commend 
them  to  the  profound  respect  of  the  historian 
as  men  who  had  a  just  appreciation  of  true 
liberty;  and  the  stigma  of  being  gentlemen, 
which  is  sought  to  be  affixed  to  their  names, 
and  memory  will  serve  the  double  purpose  of 
presenting  them  in  their  true  character,  and 
of  verifj'ing  the  assertion  that  the  best  men  of 
the  Province   were   all  on   one   side,  and   that 


152  A  Colonial  Officer 

was  the  side  of  law  and  legitimate  rule.  As 
to  the  leaders  of  the  Regulators — in  connection 
with  the  proposition  that  there  were,  with  two 
or  three  exceptions,  no  prominent  men  among 
them — it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  mere  fact 
that  Husbands  was  the  ruling  spirit  among 
them  is  of  itself  almost  conclusive  evidence  of 
the  truth  of  the  assertion.  As  to  his  character 
there  is  no  difference  of  opinion,  and  as  evi- 
dence of  it  very  different  authorities  are  now 
given. 

Governor  Tryon  wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Hills- 
borough in  1768:  "Not  a  person  of  the  char- 
acter of  a  gentleman  appeared  among  these 
insurgents.  Herman  Husbands  appears  to 
have  planned  their  operations;  he  is  of  a  fac- 
tious temper  and  has  long  since  been  expelled 
from  the  Society  of  the  Quakers  for  the  immo- 
rality of  his  life." 

Dr.  Caruthers,  the  ablest  apologist  of  the 
Regulators,  admits  that  Husbands  was  not  at 
that  time  in  membership  with  the  Quakers, 
although  he  had  been ;  and  Dr.  Wiley,  another 
apologist,  sa3^s  Husbands  "  was  not  a  char- 
acter worthy  of  much  commendation."  He 
was  afterwards  an  active  insurgent  in  the 
Whiskey  Insurrection  in  Pennsylvania,  which 
was  suppressed  by  Washington,     The  two  or 


And  His  Times.  153 

three  exceptions  which  qualify  the  third 
proposition  above  advanced,  were  made  ont  of 
regard  to  some  statements  to  be  fonnd  in  the 
pages  of  several  writers  on  the  snbject  of  the 
Regnlators'  War,  bnt  an  examination  of  the 
sources  of  information  on  which  they  rely^ 
does  not  seem  to  warrant  those  statements  in 
the  unqualified  form  in  which  they  appear. 
Not  one  of  these  excepted  parties  ever  appeared 
in  arms  with  the  Regulators,  or  ever  took  part 
in  their  public  acts,  however  much  the}^  may 
have  indulged  in  expressions  of  sympathy 
with  them  in  their  troubles.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  they  approved  of  the  lawlessness 
and  cruelty  perpetrated  by  them.  An  idea 
once  prevailed,  and,  perhaps,  still  prevails, 
that  as  the  Rev.  Dr.  Caldwell  was  a  mediator 
between  the  Regulators  and  the  Governor,  the 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  endorsed 
the  Regulators  and  joined  their  ranks,  and 
Messrs.  Caruthers  and  Wiley,  both  of  whom 
were  Presbyterian  ministers,  have,  in  defend- 
ing the  movement,  strengthened  the  impression 
alluded  to.  But  the  facts  do  not  warrant  the 
conclusion.  There  were  some  members  of  Dr. 
Caldwell's  charge  among  the  Regulators,  and 
Dr.  Caldwell,  an  influential  minister,  was  sup- 
posed to  be  in  sympathj^  with  them;  but  his 
II 


154  A   Colonial  Officer 

sympath}'  was  not  with  them  as  Regulators, 
for  even  Caruthers,  his  biographer,  sa3's  that  he 
disapproved  of  and  condemned  their  measures. 

As  a  christian  minister,  he  pitied  them  in 
distress  and  danger  and  tried  to  mitigate  their 
punishment,  but  it  is  unjust  to  his  memory  to 
connect  him  any  farther  than  this  with  the 
insurrection;  audit  is  equally  unjust  to  the 
Presbyterians  of  that  day  to  fix  upon  them  any 
part  of  the  responsibilily.  Four  ministers  of 
that  church  in  1768  wrote  letters  which  Col. 
Osborn  read  to  the  troops  when  defending  the 
Government,  and  Tryon  himself  wrote  to  Lord 
Hillsborough  in  December,  1768:  "His  Maj- 
esty's Presbyterian  subjects  showed  themselves 
very  lo3^al  on  this  service,  and  I  have  a  pleasure 
in  acknowledging  the  utility  that  the  Presb}^- 
terian  ministers'  letters  to  their  brethren  had 
upon  the  then  face  of  public  affairs." 

4.  That  the  Regulators  were  not  republicans 
is  evident,  both  from  their  acts  and  declarations. 
They  declared  in  an  address  to  the  Governor 
and  Council,  as  follows:  "We  assure  you  that 
neither  disloyalty  to  the  best  of  Kings,  nor 
dissatisfaction  to  the  wholesomest  constitution, 
nor  yet  dissatisfaction  to  the  Legislature,  gave 
rise  to  those  commotions  which  now  make  so 
much  noise." 


And  His  Times.  155 

They  declared  their  opposition  to  the  Judges 
because  they  had  not  been  appointed  by  the 
King,  and,  according  to  the  affidavit  of  Robert 
Lvtle,  the}^  drank  "  damnation  to  King  George 
and  success  to  the  Prcteiider^^^  in  1770.  In 
addition  to  this  they  "eagerly"  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance  after  their  defeat  at  Alamance, 
and  subsequently  became  active  Tories  (with 
ver}'  rare  exceptions)  in  the  Revolution. 

5.  When  the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out 
in  North  Carolina  the  new  Governor,  Martin, 
relied  for  support  almost  entireh'  on  the  High- 
landers and  Regulators,  and  he  was  not  dis- 
appointed, for  he  found  them  zealous  loyalists 
and  cordial  haters  of  the  Whigs.  The  latter, 
when  the  Provincial  Congress  was  called 
together  by  Samuel  Johnston  on  the  20th  of 
August,  1775,  at  Hillsborough,  apprehended 
an  attack  from  the  Regulators.  The  fear  was 
general  among  the  members  of  that  body  that 
an  attempt  would  be  made  to  disperse  them. 
If  the  Regulators  were  republicans  and  friends 
of  the  cause,  how  can  this  apprehension  on  the 
part  of  the  Congress  be  accounted  for?  One 
Colson,  who  was,  perhaps,  the  leader  (and 
certainly  was  a  prominent  member)  of  the 
Regulators  after  Husbands  fled,  surrendered 
himself  to  that  Congress,  and,  according  to  a 


156  A  Colonial  Officer 

letter  written  by  Governor  Johnston,  "with 
every  appearance  of  hnniility  and  contrition, 
even  to  the  shedding  of  tears,  has  promised  for 
the  future  to  exert  himself  with  as  much  assi- 
duity in  favor  of  our  measures,  as  he  has  hith- 
erto in  opposition  to  the  mi''' 

Thus  the  status  of  the  Regulators  is  fixed, 
and,  according  to  the  evidence  furnished  by 
these  two  incidents — the  apprehension  of  an 
attack  on  the  Congress  and  the  surrender  of 
Colson — they  were  necessaril}'  either  Tories  or 
banditti.  The  history  of  individuals  will  not 
be  traced. 

6th.  The  sixth  and  last  proposition  was,  that 
they  were  opposed  by  the  prominent  Whig 
leaders  of  that  day;  even  b}^  such  men  as 
Griffith  Rutherford  and  Willie  Jones,  who 
were  considered  ultra  republicans  after  the 
Revolution. 

No  better  test  of  popularity  could  be  appealed 
to  than  was  furnished  by  the  men  who,  having 
opposed  and  suppressed  the  Regulators,  be- 
came afterwards  favorite  officers  in  the  Revo- 
lution ;  and  it  is  only  necessar}-  to  mention 
some  of  their  names,  with  the  rank  they 
attained,  to  prove  it.  (General  Waddell  died 
before  the  Revolution  broke  out,  and,  there- 
fore, is  not  included.)     John  Ashe  and  Robert 


And  His  Times.  '  157 

Howe  became  Major  Generals;  Francis  Nash, 
Richard  Caswell,  James  Moore,  Alexander 
Lillington  and  Griffith  Rntherford  became 
Brigadier  Generals;  others  became  Colonels, 
Abner  Nash  became  Major,  and,  like  Caswell, 
afterwards  Governor  of  the  State. 

Jnstice,  therefore,  to  the  memor}-  of  these 
men  who  were  before,  during,  and  after  the 
Regulators'  War,  prominent  as  the  enemies  of 
oppression  and  true  patriots,  requires  that  that 
outbreak  which  they  suppressed  should  appear 
upon  the  page  of  history  in  its  true  light, 
viz.:  as  a  lawless  and  seditious  attempt  to 
throw  off  the  restraints  of  civilization  and 
to  redress  grievances — which  certainly  ex- 
isted— b}"  mob  law. 

With  the  suppression  of  the  Regulators  the 
militar}^  career  of  General  Waddell — which 
had  extended  over  sixteen  years,  and  had  taken 
him  from  Fort  Du  Quesne  on  the  Western 
border  of  Pennsylvania,  to  the  Savannah  river 
on  the  Southern  border  of  South  Carolina,  and 
into  Tennessee — ended. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to 
attempt  a  vindication  of  Governor  Tryon,  ex- 
cept so  far  as  his  performance  of  a  plain  duty  in 
suppressing  an  outbreak  which  threatened  ruin 
to  the  Province  was  concerned.      His  conduct. 


158  A  Colonial  Officer 

after  suppressing  it,  was  cruel  and  heartless, 
as  well  as  contemptible  and  ridiculous.  The 
execution  of  six  prisoners  at  Hillsborough, 
including  a  wretched  lunatic  who  was,  tradi- 
tion says,  made  a  maniac  by  personal  wrongs 
of  the  most  infamous  character  perpetrated  b}^ 
some  official,  was  as  cruel  as  it  was  unneces- 
sary. 

Tryon  left  North  Carolina  about  a  month 
after  the  battle  of  Alamance,  to  become  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  and  about  the  same  time 
a  letter,  signed  "Atticus,"  appeared  in  the 
newspapers  and  was  widely  circulated  through- 
out the  country.  This  letter  was  written  by 
Judge  Maurice  Moore,  and  added  greatly  to 
his  reputation  as  a  lawyer  and  writer  of  bril- 
liant talents.  x\s  it  not  only  depicted  Trj-on's 
character  in  vivid  colors,  but  gave  the  best 
history  of  his  administration,  and  was  written 
by  one  who,  although  appointed  a  Judge  by 
him  and  required,  in  the  discharge  of  his 
official  duties,  to  try  such  cases  as  were  brought 
before  him,  had  a  very  just  estimate  of  the 
Governor;  and  as  it  has  not  been  published  in 
fifty  years,  it  is  here  given  in  full: 

To  his  Excellency  IVillimu  Tryon ^  Esquire  : 

I  am  too  well  acquainted  with  your  charac- 
ter to  suppose  you  can  bear  to  be  told  of  your 


And  His  TimEvS.  159 

faults  with  temper.  You  are  too  much  of  the 
soldier,  aud  too  little  of  the  philosopher,  for 
repreheusion.  With  this  opinion  of  3'our  Ex- 
cellency, I  have  more  reason  to  believe  that 
this  letter  will  be  mere  serviceable  to  the  prov- 
ince of  New  York,  than  useful  or  entertaining 
to  its  governor.  The  beginning  of  your  ad- 
ministration in  this  province  was  marked  with 
oppression  and  distress  to  its  inhabitants. 
These,  Sir,  I  do  not  place  to  your  account ; 
they  are  derived  from  higher  authority  than 
3'ours.  You  were,  however,  a  dull,  yet  willing 
instrument,  in  the  hands  of  the  British  Min- 
istry to  promote  the  means  of  both.  You 
called  together  some  of  the  principal  inhabi- 
tants of  3'our  neighborhood,  and  in  a  strange, 
inverted,  self-aifecting  speech,  told  them  that 
3'ou  had  left  3'our  native  countr}^,  friends,  and 
connexions,  and  taken  upon  yourself  the  gov- 
ernment of  North  Carolina  with  no  other  view 
than  to  serve  it.  In  the  next  breath,  Sir,  3'ou 
advised  them  to  submit  to  the  Stamp  Act,  and 
become  slaves.  How  could  3'ou  reconcile  such 
baneful  advice  with  such  friendl}-  professions? 
But,  Sir,  self-contradictions  with  you  have  not 
been  confined  to  words  only ;  they  have  been 
equall}^  extended  to  actions.  On  other  occa- 
sions \^ou  have  played  the  governor  with  an 
air  of  greater  dignity-  and  importance  than  an}^ 
of  your  predecessors;  on  this,  3'our  Excellency 
was  meanly  content  to  solicit  the  currency  of 
stamped  paper  in  private  companies.  But, 
alas  !   ministerial  approbation  is  the  first  wish 


i6o  A  Colonial  Officer 

of  your  heart;  it  is  the  best  security  you  have 
for  your  office.  Engaged  as  j^ou  were  in  this 
disgraceful  negotiation,  the  more  important 
duties  of  the  governor  were  forgotten,  or  wil- 
fully neglected.  In  murmuring,  discontent, 
and  public  confusion,  you  left  the  colony  com- 
mitted to  your  care,  for  near  eighteen  months 
together,  without  calling  an  assembly.  The 
Stamp  Act  repealed,  you  called  one;  and  a 
fatal  one  it  was !  Under  ever}^  influence  your 
character  afforded  3^ou,  at  this  Assembly,  was 
laid  the  foundation  of  all  the  mischief  which 
has  since  befallen  this  unhappv  province.  A 
grant  was  made  to  the  crown  of  five  thousand 
pounds,  to  erect  a  house  for  the  residence  of  a 
governor;  and  you,  Sir,  were  solel}^  intrusted 
with  the  management  of  it.  The  infant  and 
impoverished  state  of  this  country  could  not 
afford  to  make  such  a  grant,  and  it  was  your 
duty  to  have  been  acquainted  with  the  circum- 
stances of  the  colony  you  governed.  This 
trust  proved  equally  fatal  to  the  interest  of  the 
province  and  to  j^our  Excellency's  honor.  You 
made  use  of  it,  Sir,  to  gratify  your  vanity,  at 
the  expense  of  both.  It  at  once  afforded  you 
an  opportunit}'  of  leaving  an  elegant  monu- 
ment of  your  taste  in  building  behind  you, 
and  giving  the  ministry  an  instance  of  3'Our 
great  influence  and  address  in  your  new  gov- 
ernment. You,  therefore,  regardless  of  every 
moral,  as  well  as  legal  obligation,  changed  the 
plan  of  a  province-house  to  that  of  a  palace, 
worthy  the  residence  of  a  prince  of  the  blood, 


And  His  Times.  i6i 

and  augmented  the  expense  to  fifteen  thousand 
pounds.  Here,  Sir,  you  betrayed  3'Our  trust, 
disgracefully  to  the  governor,  and  dishonora- 
bly to  the  man.  This  liberal  and  ingenious 
stroke  in  politics  ma3^  for  all  I  know,  have 
promoted  j^ou  to  the  government  of  New  York. 
Promotion  may  have  been  the  reward  of  such 
sort  of  merit.  Be  this  as  it  ma3^  you  reduced 
the  next  Assembl}'  you  met  to  the  unjust 
alternative  of  granting  ten  thousand  pounds 
more,  or  sinking  the  five  thousand  they  had 
already-  granted.  They  chose  the  former.  It 
was  most  pleasing  to  the  governor,  but  directly 
contrary  to  the  sense  of  their  constituents. 
This  public  imposition  upon  a  people,  who, 
from  poverty,  were  hardl}'  able  to  pa}-  the 
necessary  expenses  of  government,  occasioned 
general  discontent,  which  your  Excellenc}^ 
with  wonderful  address,  improved  into  a  civil 
war. 

In  a  colon}'  without  nionc}',  and  among  a 
people,  almost  desperate  with  distress,  public 
profusion  should  have  been  carefully'  avoided  ; 
but  unfortunately  for  the  country,  \'ou  were 
bred  a  soldier,  and  have  a  natural,  as  well  as 
acquired  fondness  for  military  parade.  You 
were  intrusted  to  run  a  Cherokee  boundary 
about  ninety  miles  in  length ;  this  little  ser- 
vice at  once  afforded  you  an  opportunity  of 
exercising  your  militar}''  talents,  and  making 
a  splendid  exhibition  of  yourself  to  the  Indians. 
To  a  gentleman  of  your  Exceilenc^-'s  turn  of 
mind,  this  was   no  unpleasing   prospect ;  you 


1 62  A  Colonial  Officer 

marched  to  perform  it,  in  a  time  of  profound 
peace,  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  militia,  in 
all  the  pomp  of  war,  and  returned  with  the 
honorable  title,  conferred  on  you  by  the  Chero- 
kees,  of  Great  M^olf  of  North  Carol ina.  This 
line  of  marked  trees,  and  your  Excellency's 
prophetic  title,  cost  the  province  a  greater  sum 
than  two  pence  a  head,  on  all  the  taxable  per- 
sons in  it  for  one  year,  would  pay. 

Your  next  expedition.  Sir,  was  a  more 
important  one.  Four  or  five  hundred  ignorant 
people,  who  called  themselves  Regulators,  took 
it  into  their  head  to  quarrel  with  their  repre- 
sentative, a  gentleman  honored  with  your 
Excellency's  esteem.  They  foolishly  charged 
him  with  every  distress  they  felt;  and,  in 
revenge,  shot  two  or  three  musket  balls  through 
his  house.  They  at  the  same  time  rescued  a 
horse  which  had  been  seized  for  the  public  tax. 
These  crimes  were  punishable  in  the  courts  of 
law,  and  at  that  time  the  criminals  were  amen- 
able to  legal  process.  Your  Excellency  and 
your  confidential  friends,  it  seems,  were  of  a 
different  opinion.  All  your  dutv  could  possi- 
bly require  of  you  on  this  occasion,  if  it  required 
an^^  thing  eat  all,  was  to  direct  a  prosecution 
against  th  offenders.  You  should  have  care- 
fully avoided  becoming  a  party  in  the  dispute. 
But,  Sir,  your  genius  could  not  lie  still ;  3^ou 
enlisted  yourself  a  volunteer  in  this  service, 
and  entered  into  a  negotiation  with  the  Regu- 
lators, which  at  once  disgraced  3'ou  and  encour- 
aged them.      They  despised  the  governor  who 


And  His  Times.  163 

had  degraded  his  own  character  by  taking  part 
in  a  private  quarrel,  and  insulted  the  man 
whom  they  considered  as  personally  their 
enemy.  The  terms  of  accommodation  your 
Excellency  had  offered  them  were  treated  with 
contempt.  What  they  were,  I  never  knew; 
they  could  not  have  related  to  public  offences ; 
these  belong  to  another  jurisdiction.  All  hopes 
of  settling  the  mighty  contest  b\^  treaty  ceas- 
ing, you  prepared  to  decide  it  by  means  more 
agreeable  to  your  martial  disposition,  an  appeal 
to  the  sword.  You  took  the  field  in  September, 
1768,  at  the  head  of  ten  or  twelve  hundred  men, 
and  published  an  oral  manifesto,  the  substance 
of  wdiich  was,  that  you  had  taken  up  arms  to 
protect  a  superior  court  of  justice  from  insult. 
Permit  me  here  to  ask  you.  Sir,  why  you  were 
apprehensive  for  the  court?  Was  the  court 
apprehensive  for  itself?  Did  the  judges,  or  the 
attorne3'-general,  address  3^our  Excellency  for 
protection  ?  So  far  from  it,  Sir,  if  these  gentle- 
men are  to  be  believed,  they  never  entertained 
the  least  suspicion  of  any  insult,  unless  it  was 
that  which  they  afterwards  experienced  from 
the  undue  influence  you  offered  to  extend  to 
them,  and  the  military  display  of  drums,  colors, 
and  guards,  with  which  they  were  surrounded 
and  disturbed.  How  fully  has  your  conduct, 
on  a  like  occasion  since,  testified  that  you 
acted  in  this  instance  from  passion,  and  not 
from  principle!  In  September,  1770,  the  Regu- 
lators forcibly  obstructed  the  proceedings  of 
Hillsborough  Superior  Court,  obliged  the  offi- 


164  A  Colonial  Officer 

cers  to  leave  it,  and  blotted  out  the  records.  A 
little  before  the  next  term,  when  their  contempt 
of  courts  was  sufficiently  proved,  you  wrote  an 
insolent  letter  to  the  judges,  and  attorney- 
general,  commanding  them  to  attend  to  it. 
Why  did  3''0U  not  protect  the  court  at  this  time? 
You  will  blush  at  the  answer.  Sir.  The  con- 
duct of  the  Regulators,  at  the  preceding  term, 
made  it  more  than  probable  that  those  gentle- 
men would  be  insulted  at  this,  and  \'ou  were 
not  unwilling  to  sacrifice  them  to  increase  the 
guilt  of  3^our  enemies. 

Your  Excellency  said  that  you  had  armed 
to  protect  a  court.  Had  you  said  to  revenge 
the  insult  you  and  your  friends  had  received, 
it  would  have  been  more  generally  credited  in 
this  countr\' .  The  men,  for  the  trial  of  whom 
the  court  was  thus  extravagantly  protected,  of 
their  own  accord,  squeezed  through  a  crowd  of 
soldiers,  and  surrendered  themselves,  as  if  the}- 
were  bound  to  do  so  by  their  recognizance. 

Some  of  these  people  were  convicted,  fined, 
and  imprisoned,  which  put  an  end  to  a  piece 
of  knight-errantry,  equally  aggravating  to  the 
populace  and  burthensome  to  the  country-.  On 
this  occasion.  Sir,  you  were  alike  successful  in 
the  diffusion  of  a  military  spirit  through  the 
colony  and  in  the  warlike  exhibition  you  set 
before  the  public ;  3^ou  at  once  disposed  the 
vulgar  to  hostilities,  and  proved  the  legalit^^  of 
arming,  in  cases  of  dispute,  bj^  example.  Thus 
warranted  b\'  precedent  and  tempered  b\'  s\an- 
pathy,  popular  discontent  soon  became  resent- 


And  His  TimEvS.  165 

ment  and  opposition;  revenge  superseded  jus- 
tice, and  force  the  laws  of  the  country  ;  courts 
of  law  were  treated  with  contempt,  and  gov- 
ernment itself  set  at  defiance.  For  upwards 
of  two  months  was  the  frontier  part  of  the 
country  left  in  a  state  of  perfect  anarchy. 
Your  Excellency  then  thought  fit  to  consult 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  who  pre- 
sented you  a  bill  which  you  passed  into  a  law. 
The  design  of  this  act  was  to  punish  past  riots 
in  a  new  jurisdiction,  to  create  new  offences 
and  to  secure  the  collection  of  the  public  tax; 
which,  ever  since  the  province  had  been  sad- 
dled with  a  palace,  the  Regulators  had  refused 
to  pay.  The  jurisdiction  for  holding  pleas  of 
all  capital  offences  was,  by  a  former  law,  con- 
fined to  the  particular  district  in  which  they 
were  committed.  This  act  did  not  change  that 
jurisdiction;  yet  your  Excellenc}^,  in  the  ful- 
ness of  your  power,  established  a  new  one  for 
the  trial  of  such  crimes  in  a  different  district. 
Whether  you  did  this  through  ignorance  or 
design  can  only  be  determined  in  your  own 
breast;  it  was  equally  violative  of  a  sacred 
right,  every  British  subject  is  entitled  to,  of 
being  tried  b}'  his  neighbours,  and  a  positive 
law  of  the  province  you  yourself  had  ratified. 
In  this  foreign  jurisdiction,  bills  of  indictment 
were  preferred,  and  found,  as  well  for  felonies 
as  riots  against  a  number  of  Regulators ;  they 
refused  to  surrender  themselves  within  the 
time  limited  by  the  riot  act,  and  your  Excel- 
lency   opened    your  third    campaign.     These 


1 66  A  Colonial   Officer 

indictments  charged  the  crimes  to  have  been 
committed  in  Orange  Count}-,  in  a  distinct 
district  from  that  in  which  the  court  was  held. 
The  superior  court  law  prohibits  prosecution 
for  capital  offences  in  any  other  district  than 
that  in  which  the^-  were  committed.  What 
distinctions  the  gentlemen  of  the  Iouq-  robe 
might  make  on  such  an  occasion  I  do  not 
know,  but  it  appears  to  me  those  indictments 
might  as  well  have  been  found  in  your  Excel- 
lency's kitchen;  and  give  me  leave  to  tell  you, 
Sir,  that  a  man  is  not  bound  to  answer  \o  a 
charge  that  a  court  has  no  authorit}-  to  make, 
nor  doth  the  law  punish  a  neglect  to  perform 
that  which  it  does  not  command.  The  riot 
act  declared  those  onl}-  outlawed  who  refused 
to  answer  to  indictments  legally  found.  Those 
who  had  been  capitally  charged  were  illegally-  ' 
indicted,  and  could  not  be  outlaws;  j^et  your 
Excellency  proceeded  against  them  as  such. 
I  mean  to  expose  your  blunders,  not  to  defend 
their  conduct;  that  was  as  insolent  and  daring 
as  the  desperate  state  your  administration  had 
reduced  them  to  could  possiblj^  occasion.  I  am 
willing  to  give  you  full  credit  for  every  service 
you  have  rendered  this  country'.  Your  active 
and  gallant  behaviour,  in  extinguishing  the 
flame  you  yourself  had  kindled,  does  you  great 
honor.  For  once  your  militar}^  talents  were 
useful  to  the  province;  you  braveh'  met  in  the 
field,  and  vanquished,  an  host  of  scoundrels, 
whom  you  had  made  intrepid  by  abuse.  It 
seems  difficult  to  determine.  Sir,  whether  your 


And  His  Tiiniks.  167 

Excellency  is  more  to  be  admired  for  your  skill 
in  creatino-  the  cause,  or  your  bravery  in  sup- 
pressing the  effect.  This  single  action  would 
have  blotted  out  for  ever  half  the  evils  of  j^our 
administration;  but  alas!  Sir,  the  conduct  of 
the  general  after  his  victory,  was  more  dis- 
graceful to  the  hero  who  obtained  it,  than  that 
of  the  man  before  it  had  been  to  the  governor. 
Wlu'  did  you  stain  so  great  an  action  with  the 
blood  of  a  prisoner  who  was  in  a  state  of 
insanity?  The  execution  of  James  Few  was 
inhuman;  that  miserable  wretch  was  entitled 
to  life  till  nature,  or  the  laws  of  his  country, 
deprived  him  of  it.  The  battle  of  the  Alle- 
mance  was  over;  the  soldier  was  crowned  with 
success,  and  the  peace  of  the  proyince  restored. 
There  was  no  necessity  for  the  infamous  ex- 
ample of  an  arbitrary  execution,  without  judge 
or  jury.  I  can  freely  forgive  you,  Sir,  for 
killing  Robert  Thompson,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  battle;  he  was  your  prisoner,  and  was 
making  his  escape  to  fight  against  you.  The 
laws  of  self-preservation  sanctified  the  action, 
and  justly  entitle  3'our  Excellenc}'  to  an  act  of 
indemnit^^ 

The  sacrifice  of  Few,  under  the  criminal 
circumstances,  could  neither  atone  for  his 
crime  nor  abate  your  rage ;  this  task  was 
reserved  for  his  unhappy  parents.  Your  ven- 
geance. Sir,  in  this  instance,  it  seems,  moved 
in  a  retrograde  direction  to  that  proposed  in 
the  second  commandment  against  idolaters; 
you  visited  the  sins  of  the  child  upon  the  father, 


1 68  A  Colonial  Officer 

and,  for  want  of  the  third  and  fonrth  genera- 
tion to  extend  it  to,  collaterally  divided  it 
between  brothers  and  sisters.  The  heavy 
affliction,  with  which  the  untimeU'  death  of  a 
son  had  bnrthened  his  parents,  was  snfficient 
to  have  cooled  the  resentment  of  any  man, 
whose  heart  was  snsceptible  of  the  feelings  of 
hnmanity;  j^onrs,  I  am  afraid,  is  not  a  heart 
of  that  kind.  If  it  is,  why  did  you  add 
to  the  distresses  of  that  family?  Why  refuse 
the  petition  of  the  town  of  Hillsborough  in 
favor  of  them,  and  unrelentingly  destroy,  as 
far  as  you  could,  the  means  of  their  future 
existence?  It  was  cruel.  Sir,  and  unworthy  a 
soldier. 

Your  conduct  to  others  after  your  success, 
whether  it  respected  person  or  property,  was 
as  lawless  as  it  was  unnecessarily  expensive 
to  the  colony.  When  your  Excellency  had 
exemplified  the  power  of  government  in  the 
death  of  a  hundred  Regulators,  the  survivors, 
to  a  man,  became  proselytes  to  government; 
the}^  readily  swallowed  your  new-coined  oath, 
to  be  obedient  to  the  laws  of  the  province,  and 
to  pay  the  public  taxes.  It  is  a  pit}^.  Sir,  that 
in  devising  this  oath,  3''ou  had  not  attended  to 
the  morals  of  those  people.  You  might  easily 
have  restrained  every  criminal  inclination,  and 
have  made  them  good  men,  as  well  as  good 
subjects.  The  battle  of  the  Allemance  had 
equally  disposed  them  to  moral  and  to  political 
conversion;  there  was  no  necessity.  Sir,  when 
the  people  were  reduced  to  obedience,  to  ravage 
the  countr}'',  or  to  insult  individuals. 


And  His  Times.  169 

Had  3-oiir  Excellency  nothing  else  in  view 
than  to  enforce  a  submission  to  the  laws  of  the 
countiy,  you  might  safely  have  disbanded  the 
army  within  ten  days  after  your  victory;  in 
that  time  the  chiefs  of  the  Regulators  were 
run  away,  and  their  deluded  followers  had 
returned  to  their  homes.  Such  a  measure 
would  have  saved  the  province  twenty  thou- 
sand pounds  at  least.  But,  Sir,  you  had 
farther  employment  for  the  army;  you  were, 
by  an  extraordinary  bustle  in  administering 
oaths,  and  disarming  the  country,  to  give  a 
serious  appearance  of  rebellion  to  the  outrage 
of  a  mob;  you  were  to  aggravate  the  impor- 
tance of  your  own  services  by  changing  a 
general  dislike  of  your  administration  into 
disaffection  to  his  Majesty's  person  and  gov- 
ernment, and  the  riotous  conduct  that  dislike 
had  occasioned  into  premeditated  rebellion. 
This  scheme,  Sir,  is  really  an  ingenious  one; 
if  it  succeeds,  you  may  possibly  be  rewarded 
for  your  services  with  the  honor  of  knighthood. 

From  the  16th  of  May  to  the  i6th  of  June, 
you  were  busied  in  securing  the  allegiance  of 
rioters,  and  levying  contributions  of  beef  and 
flour.  You  occasionalh"  amused  yourself  with 
burning  a  few  houses,  treading  down  corn, 
insulting  the  suspected,  and  holding  courts- 
martial.  These  courts  took  cognizance  of  civil 
as  well  as  military  offences,  and  even  extended 
their  jurisdiction  to  ill-breeding  and  want  of 
good  manners.  One  Johnston,  who  was  a 
reputed  Regulator,  but  whose  greatest  crime^ 

12 


170  A   Colonial  Officer 

I  believe,  was  writing  an  impudent  letter  to 
your  lad}',  was  sentenced,  in  one  of  these  mili- 
tary courts,  to  receive  five  hundred  lashes,  and 
received  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  accord- 
ingl}'.  But,  Sir,  however  exceptionable  3'our 
conduct  ma}'  have  been  on  this  occasion,  it 
bears  little  proportion  to  that  which  you 
adopted  on  the  trial  of  the  prisoners  j^ou  had 
taken.  These  miserable  wretches  were  to  be 
tried  for  a  crime  made  capital  b}-  a  temporar}- 
act  of  Assembl}'  of  twelve  months'  duration. 
That  act  had,  in  great  tenderness  to  his  Alaj- 
esty's  subjects,  converted  riots  into  treasons. 
A  rigorous  and  punctual  execution  of  it  was 
as  unjust  as  it  was  politically  unnecessary. 
The  terror  of  the  examples  now  proposed  to 
be  made  under  it  was  to  expire,  with  the  law, 
in  less  than  nine  months  after.  The  suffer- 
ings of  these  people  could  therefore  amount  to 
little  more  than  mere  punishment  to  them- 
selves. Their  offences  were  derived  from 
public  and  from  private  impositions;  and  they 
w^ere  the  followers,  not  the  leaders,  in  the 
crimes  they  had  committed.  Never  were 
criminals  more  justU'  entitled  to  every  lenity 
the  law  could  afford  them ;  but,  Sir,  no  con- 
sideration could  abate  your  zeal  in  a  cause  3'ou 
had  transferred  from  yourself  to  your  sover- 
eign. You  shamefully  exerted  every  influence 
of  your  character  against  the  lives  of  these 
people.  As  soon  as  you  were  told  that  an  in- 
dulgence of  one  day  had  been  granted  by  the 
court  to  two  men  to  send    for  witnesses,  who 


And  His  Times.  171 

actually  established  their  innocence,  and  saved 
their  lives,  you  sent  an  aid-de-camp  to  the 
judges  and  attorney-general,  to  acquaint  them 
that  you  were  dissatisfied  with  the  inactivity 
of  their  conduct,  and  threatened  to  represent 
them  unfavorably  in  Eugland.  if  they  did  not 
proceed  with  more  spirit  and  despatch.  Had 
the  court  submitted  to  influence,  all  testimony 
on  the  part  of  the  prisoners  would  have  been 
excluded ;  they  must  have  been  condemned,  to 
a  man.  You  said  that  your  solicitude  for  the 
condemnation  of  these  people  arose  from  your 
desire  of  manifesting  the  lenity  of  government 
in  their  pardon.  How  have  your  actions  con- 
tradicted your  words !  Out  of  twelve  that  were 
condemned,  the  lives  of  six  only  were  spared. 
Do  you  know,  Sir,  that  your  lenity  on  this 
occasion  was  less  than  that  of  the  bloodj^ 
Jeffries  in  1685?  He  condemned  five  hundred 
persons,  but  saved  the  lives  of  two  hundred 
and  seventy. 

In  the  execution  of  the  six  devoted  offenders, 
your  Excellency  was  as  short  of  General  Kirk 
in  form,  as  you  were  of  Judge  Jeffries  in  lenity, 
That  general  honored  the  execution  he  had 
the  charge  of  with  play  of  pipes,  sound  of 
trumpets,  and  beat  of  drums;  you  were  con- 
tent with  the  silent  displa^^  of  colors  only. 
The  disgraceful  part  you  acted  in  this  cere- 
mony, of  pointing  out  the  spot  for  erecting  the 
gallows,  and  clearing  the  field  around  for 
drawing  up  the  army  in  form,  has  left  a  ridicu- 
lous idea  of  j^onr  character  behind  you,  which 


172  A  Colonial  Officer 

bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  that  of  a  busy 
undertaker  at  a  funeral.  This  scene  closed 
your  Excellency's  administration  in  this  coun- 
try, to  the  great  joy  of  every  man  in  it,  a  few 
of  your  own  contemptible  tools  onl}'  excepted. 

Were  I  personally  your  Excellency's  enemy, 
I  would  follow  you  into  the  shade  of  life,  and 
show  you  equally  the  object  of  pity  and  con- 
tempt to  the  wise  and  serious,  and  of  jest  and 
ridicule  to  the  ludicrous  and  sarcastic.  Truly 
pitiable.  Sir,  is  the  pale  and  trembling  impa- 
tience of  your  temper.  No  character,  however 
distinguished  for  wisdom  and  virtue,  can  sanc- 
tify the  least  degree  of  contradiction  to  your 
political  opinions.  On  such  occasions.  Sir,  in 
a  rage,  you  renounce  the  character  of  a  gentle- 
man, and  precipitately  mark  the  most  exalted 
merit  with  every  disgrace  the  haught}^  inso- 
lence of  a  governor  can  inflict  upon  it.  To 
this  unhappy  temper.  Sir,  may  be  ascribed 
most  of  the  absurdities  of  your  administration 
in  this  country.  It  deprived  you  of  every 
assistance  men  of  spirit  and  abilities  could  have 
given  you,  and  left  you,  with  all  3'our  passions 
and  inexperience  about  j^ou,  to  blunder  through 
the  duties  of  your  office,  supported  and  ap- 
proved by  the  most  profound  ignorance  and 
abject  servility. 

Your  pride  has  as  often  exposed  you  to  ridi- 
cule, as  the  rude  petulance  of  your  disposition 
has  to  contempt.  Your  solicitude  about  the 
title  of  Her  Excellency  for  Mrs.  Tr3'on,  and 
the  arrogant  reception  you  gave  to  a  respect- 


And  His  Times.  173 

able  company  at  an  entertainment  of  your  own 
making,  seated  with  your  lady  by  your  side 
on  elbow-chairs,  in  the  middle  of  the  ball-room, 
bespeak  a  littleness  of  mind,  which,  believe 
me,  Sir,  when  blended  with  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  your  office,  renders  you  truly 
ridiculous. 

High  stations  have  often  proved  fatal  to 
those  who  have  been  promoted  to  them ;  yours. 
Sir,  has  proved  so  to  you.  Had  you  been  con- 
tented to  pass  through  life  in  a  subordinate 
military  character,  with  the  private  virtues  you 
have,  you  might  have  lived  serviceable  to  your 
country,  and  reputable  to  yourself;  but.  Sir, 
when,  "with  every  disqualifying  circumstance, 
you  took  upon  you  the  government  of  a  prov- 
ince, though  you  gratified  your  ambition,  you 
made  a  sacrifice  of  3^ourself. 
Yours,  &c. 

Atticus. 

In  an  old  volume,  containing  a  number  of 
pamphlets  and  letters  of  the  Revolutionary 
period,  which  has  recently  come  into  the 
writer's  possession,  there  are  some  amusing 
criticisms  of  Try  on,  written  from  New  York 
by  a  Loyalist.  In  one  letter,  dated  December 
loth,  1777,  the  writer  says  that  Tryon's  inju- 
dicious conduct  had  been  of  infinite  prejudice 
to  the  British  cause — that  he  followed  the 
army  everywhere,  administering  oaths  of  alle- 
giance, and  '^ puffing  off  his   assiduity;"  and 


174  A  Colonial  Officer 

that  as  one  method  of  converting  the  rebels  he 
sent  out  officers  with  flags  of  truce,  loaded 
down  with  sermons  to  distribute  among  them — 
"with  which  sermons  the  rebels  light  their 
tobacco-pipes,  or  expend  them  in  other  neces- 
sary uses."  Again  he  sa^^s:  "Governor,  now 
General,  Tryon,  who  is  the  pink  of  politeness, 
and  the  quintescence  of  vanity,  chose  to  dis- 
tinguish himself  by  petitioning  that  the  Pro- 
vincials under  his  command  should  occupy  the 
outposts  at  Kingsbridge ;  he  had  his  wish  for  a 
long  time,  by  which  we  lost  numbers  of  our 
best  recruits.  The  man  is  generous,  perfectly 
good-natured,  and  no  doubt  brave;  but  weak 
and  vain  to  an  extreme  degree.  You  should 
keep  such  people  at  home,  they  are  excellent 
for  a  court  parade.  I  wish  Mrs.  Tryon  would 
send  for  him." 

Note. — The  following  is  the  Act  of  the  Legislature  in  regard 
to  the  Regulators.  It  was  an  exceedingly  harsh  measure,  but 
it  was  the  Act  of  North  Carolinians  themselves,  and  not  of  the 
British  Crown  or  Parliament.  So  far  from  being  the  latter,  as 
soon  as  it  reached  England  it  was  repudiated  and  denounced, 
and  similar  legislation  was  forever  forbidden  ;  so  that,  as  is 
urged  in  the  text,  it  was  not  "British"  oppression  against 
which  the  Regulators  contended  : 

An  Act  for  preventing  Tumults  and  Riotous  Assemblies,  for 

the  more  speedy  and  effectual  punishing  the  Rioters  and  for 

restoring  and  preserving  the  Public  Peace  of  this  Province, 

Whereas  of  late  many  seditious  Riots  and  tumults  have  been 

in  divers  Parts  of  this  Province  to  the  disturbance  of  the  Public 


And  His  Times.  175 

Peace,  the  Obstruction  of  the  Course  of  Justice,  and  tending  to 
subvert  the  Constitution,  and  the  same  are  yet  continued  and 
fomented  by  Persons  disaffected  to  his  Majestj''s  government. 
And  whereas  it  hath  been  doubted  by  some  how  far  the  Laws 
now  in  Force  are  sufficient  to  inflict  punishment  adequate  to 
such  heinous  Offences. 

Be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  Governor,  Councill  and  Assem- 
bly, and  by  the  Authority  of  the  same,  That  if  any  Persons  to 
the  number  of  ten  or  more,  being  unlawfully  and  tumultuously 
and  riotously  assembled  together,  to  the  disturbance  of  the 
Public  Peace,  at  any  time  after  the  first  Day  of  February  next, 
and  being  openly  required  or  commanded  by  any  one  or  more 
Justices  of  the  Peace  or  Sheriff  to  disperse  themselves,  and 
peaceably  to  depart  to  their  habitations,  shall  to  the  number  of 
ten  or  more,  notwithstanding  such  Command  or  Request  made 
remain  or  continue  together  by  the  space  of  one  Hour  after 
such  Command  or  request,  that  their  continuing  together  to  the 
nuinber  of  ten  or  more  shall  be  adjudged  Felony,  and  the 
offenders  therein  and  each  of  them,  shall  be  adjudged  Felons 
and  shall  suffer  Death  as  in  case  of  Felony  and  shall  be  utterly 
excluded  from  his  or  their  clergy,  if  found  guilty  by  a  verdict 
of  a  Jury  or  shall  confess  the  same,  upon  his  or  their  arraign- 
ment or  will  not  answer  directly  to  the  same,  according  to  the 
Laws  of  this  Province,  or  shall  stand  mute  or  shall  be  outlawed, 
and  ever}^  such  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Sheriff  within  the 
limits  of  their  respective  Jurisdictions,  are  hereby  authorized, 
impowered  and  required  on  Notice  or  Knowledge  of  any  such 
unlawful,  riotous  and  tumultuous  Assembly  to  resort  to  the 
Place  where  such  unlawful  riotous,  and  tumultuous  Assembly 
shall  be,  of  Persons  to  the  Number  of  ten  or  more  and  there  to 
make,  or  cause  to  be  made  such  Request  or  Command. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid  that  if 
such  Persons  so  unlawfully,  riotouslj-  and  tumultuously  assem- 
bled or  ten  or  more  of  them,  after  such  Request  or  Command 
made  in  manner  aforesaid  shall  continue  together  and  not  dis- 
perse themselves  within  one  Hour,  that  then  it  shall  and  may 
be  lawful  to  and  for  every  Justice  of  the  Peace  or  Sheriff  of  the 
County  where  such  Assembly  shall  be  and  also  to  and  for  such 


176  A  Colonial  Officer 

Person  or  Persous  as  shall  be  commanded  to  the  aiding  and 
assisting  to  any  such  Justice  of  the  Peace  or  Sheriff,  who  are 
hereby  authorized,  impowered  and  required  to  command  of 
His  Majesty's  Subjects  of  this  Province  of  Age  and  Ability  to 
be  assisting  to  them  therein,  to  seize  and  apprehend  such  Per- 
sons so  unlawfully,  riotously  and  tumultuously  continuing 
together,  after  such  Request  or  Command  made  as  aforesaid 
and  forthwith  to  carry  the  persons  so  apprehended  before  one 
or  more  of  his  Majesty's  Justices  of  the  Peace  of  the  County 
where  such  Persons  shall  be  so  apprehended  in  Order  to  their 
being  proceeded  against  for  such  their  Offences  according  to 
Law.  And  that  if  the  Persons  so  unlawfully  riotously  and 
tumultuously  assembled  or  any  of  them  shall  happen  to  be 
killed  maimed  or  hurt  in  the  dispersing,  seizing  or  apprehend- 
ing or  endeavoring  to  disperse,  seize  or  apprehend  them  by- 
Reason  of  their  resistance  that  then  every  such  justice  of  the 
Peace,  Sheriff  under  Sheriff  and  all  other  Persons  being  aiding 
or  assisting  to  them  or  any  of  them  shall  be  free  discharged 
and  indemnified,  as  well  against  the  King,  his  Heirs  and  Suc- 
cessors as  against  all  and  every  other  Person  and  Persons  of 
for  and  concerning  the  killing,  maiming  or  hurting  of  any  such 
Person  or  Persous  so  unlawfully  riotously  and  tumultuously 
assembled. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid  that  if 
any  Persons  to  the  Number  of  Ten  or  more,  unlawfully,  riot- 
ously or  tumultuously  assembled  together  to  the  disturbance  of 
the  public  Peace,  shall  unlawfully  and  with  Force  at  any  time 
after  the  first  Day  of  March  next,  during  the  sitting  of  any  of 
the  Courts  of  Judicature  within  the  Province,  with  an  intention 
to  destruct  or  disturb  the  proceedings  of  such  Court,  assault, 
beat  or  wound  or  openly  threaten  to  assault,  beat  or  wound 
any  of  the  Judges,  Justices  or  other  Oflficer  of  such  Court,  during 
the  continuance  of  the  term  or  shall  assault,  beat  or  wound  or 
openly  threaten  to  assault,  beat  or  wound,  or  shall  unlawfully 
and  with  force  hinder  and  destruct  any  Sheriff,  Under  Sheriff, 
Coroner  or  Collector  of  the  public  Taxes  in  the  discharge  or 
execution  of  his  or  their  office  or  shall  unlawfully  and  with 
Force  demolish,  pull  down  or  destroy  or  begin  to  demolish, 


And  His  Times.  177 

pull  down  or  destroy  any  Church  or  Chapel  or  any  Building 
for  religious  Worship  o-  any  Court  House  or  Prison  or  any 
Dwelling  House,  Barn  Stable  or  other  Outhouse  that  then  every 
such  offence  shall  be  adjudged  Felony.  And  the  Offenders 
therein  their  leaders  abettors  and  Advisers  shall  be  adjudged 
felons  and  shall  suffer  death  as  in  due  case  of  felony  and  be 
utterly  excluded  from  his  or  their  clergy,  if  found  guilty  by 
verdict  of  a  Jury  or  shall  confess  the  same  upon  his  or  their 
arraignment  or  will  not  answer  directly  to  the  same  according 
to  the  laws  of  this  Province  or  shall  stand  mute  or  shall  be  out- 
lawed. 

And  whereas  it  hath  been  found  by  experience  that  there  is 
great  difficulty  in  bringing  to  justice  Persons  who  have  been  or 
may  be  guilty  of  any  of  the  Offences  before  mentioned  :  For 
Remedy  thereof,  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Authority  aforesaid  that 
it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and  for  the  Attorney  General  of 
this  Province  for  the  time  being  or  his  deputies  to  commence 
Prosecutions  against  any  Person  or  Persons  who  have  anj^  time 
since  the  first  Day  of  March  last  or  shall  at  any  time  hereafter 
commit  or  perpetrate  any  of  the  Crimes  or  Offences  herein 
before  mentioned  in  any  Superior  Court  with  this  Province 
or  in  any  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  by  the  Governor  or 
Commander  in  Chief  for  the  time  being,  specially  instituted 
and  appointed  and  the  Judges  or  Justices  of  such  Court  are 
hereby  authorized,  impowered  and  required  to  take  Cognizance 
of  all  such  Crimes  and  Offences,  and  proceed  to  give  Judgment 
and  award  Execution  thereon,  although  in  a  different  County 
or  District  from  that  wherein  the  Crime  was  committed  and 
that  all  Proceedings  thereupon  shall  be  deemed  equally  valid 
ami  sufficient  in  Law  as  if  the  same  had  been  prosecuted  in  the 
County  or  District  wherein  the  Offence  was  committed,  any 
Law,  Usage  or  Custom  to  the  Contrary  notwithstanding. 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  Authority  aforesaid  that 
the  Judges  or  Justices  of  such  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  so 
commissioned  shall  direct  the  Clerk  of  the  District  wherein 
such  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  is  to  be  held  to  issue  Writs 
of  \'enire  Facias,  and  the  proceedings  thereon  to  be  in  all 
respects  the  same  as  directed  by  an  Act  of  Assembly  passed  at 
New  Bern   in  January  in   the  year  of  our  Lord  One  thousand 


178  A  Colonial  Officer 

seven  hundred  and  sixty  eight  intituled  An  Act  for  dividing 
this  Province  into  six  several  districts  and  for  establishing  a 
superior  Court  of  Justice  in  each  of  the  said  districts  and  regu- 
lating the  proceedings  therein,  and  for  providing  adequate 
salaries  for  .the  Chief  Justice  and  the  Associate  Justices  of  the 
said  superior  Courts. 

•  Provided  nevertheless  that  no  Person  or  Persons  heretofore 
guilty  of  any  of  the  Crimes  or  Offences  in  this  Act  beforemen- 
tioned  although  convicted  thereof  in  a  different  County  or 
district  from  that  wherein  such  Offence  was  committed  shall 
be  subject  to  any  other  or  greater  punishment  than  he  or  they 
would  or  might  have  been  had  this  Act  never  been  made. 

And  to  the  end  that  the  Justice  of  the  Province  be  not  eluded 
by  the  resistance  or  escape  of  such  enormous  Offenders,  Be  it 
further  enacted  by  the  Authority  aforesaid,  that  from  and  after 
the  passing  of  this  Act,  if  any  Bill  or  Bills  of  any  indictment 
be  found  or  presentment  or  presentments  made  against  any 
Person  or  Persons  for  any  of  the  Crimes  or  Offences  herein 
before  mentioned  it  shall  and  may  be  Lawful  for  the  Judges 
or  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  or  Court  of  Oyer  and  Ter- 
miner, wherein  such  Indictment  shall  be  found  or  presentment 
made  and  they  are  hereby  impowered  and  required  to  issue 
their  proclamation  to  be  affixed  or  put  up  at  the  Court  House 
and  each  Church  and  Chappel  of  the  County  where  the  Crime 
was  committed,  commanding  the  Person  or  Persons  against 
whom  such  Bill  of  Indictment  is  found  or  presentment  made 
to  surrender  himself  or  themselves  to  the  Sheriff  of  the  County 
wherein  such  Court  is  held  within  sixty  Days.  And  in  case 
such  Person  or  Persons  do  not  surrender  himself  or  themselves 
accordingly,  he  or  they  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  the  oflence 
charged  in  the  Indictment  found  or  presentment  made  in  like 
manner  as  if  he  or  they  had  been  arraigned  and  convicted 
thereof  by  due  Course  of  Law,  And  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful 
to  and  for  any  Person  or  Persons  to  kill  and  destroy  such 
Offenders,  and  such  Person  or  Persons  killing  such  Offender 
or  Offenders  shall  be  free  discharged  and  indemnified,  as  well 
against  the  King,  his  Heirs  and  successors,  as  against  all  and 
every  Person  and  Persons  for  and  concerning  the  killing  and 
destroying   such    Offender   or    Offenders    and    the    lands  and 


And  His  Times.  i79 

chattels  of  such  Offender  or  Offenders  shall  be  forfeited  to  his 
Majesty,  his  Heirs  and  successors,  to  be  sold  by  the  Sheriff, 
for  the  best  Price  that  may  be  had,  at  public  Vendue,  after 
notice  by  advertisement  ten  Days  and  the  Monies  arising  from 
such  sale,  to  be  paid  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  District  wherein 
the  same  shall  be  sold  and  applied  towards  defraying  the  con- 
tingent Charges  of  government. 

And  whereas  by  the  late  Riots  and  Insurrections  at  the  last 
Superior  Court  held  for  the  district  of  Hillsborough  it  may  be 
justly  apprehended  that  some  endeavors  will  be  made  to  pro- 
tect those  who  have  been  guilty  of  such  Riots  and  Insurrections 
as  well  as  those  who  may  hereafter  be  guilty  of  the  Crimes  and 
Offences  herein  before  mentioned  :  For  Prevention  thereof  and 
restoring  Peace  and  Stability  to  the  regular  government  of  this 
Province,  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Authority  aforesaid,  that  the 
Governor  or  Commander  in  Chief  for  the  time  being  is  hereby 
fully  authorized  and  empowered  to  order  and  command  that 
necessary  draughts  be  made  from  the  different  Regiments  of 
Militia  in  this   Province   to  be  under  the  Command  of  such 
Officer  or  Officers  as  he  may  think  proper  to  appoint  for  that 
purpose  at  the  Public  Expence  to  be  by  him  employed  in  Aid 
and  Assistance  of  the  Execution  of  this  Law,  as  well  as  to  pro- 
tect the  Sheriffs  and  Collectors  of  the  public  Revenue  in  Dis- 
charge of  their  several  duties,  which  draught  or  Detachments 
of  Officers  and  Soldiers  when  made  shall  be  found,  provided 
for,  and  paid,  in  the  same  manner  and  at  the  same  rates  and 
subject  to  the  same  Rules  and  Discipline  as  directed  in  case  of 
an  Insurrection  in  and  by  an  Act  of  Assembly  made  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord   One  thousand  seven  hundred   and   sixty   eight, 
entitled.  An  Act  for  the  establishing  a  Militia  in  this  Province. 
And   for  effectually    carrying   into  execution  the  purposes 
aforesaid,  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Authority  aforesaid,  that  it  shall 
and  may  be  Lawful  for  the  Governor  and  Commander  in  Chief 
for  the  time  being  to  draw  upon  both  or  either  of  the  Publick 
Treasurers  of  this  Province  by  Warrant  from  under  his  Hand 
and  Seal,  for  Payment  of  any  such  sums  of  Money  as  shall  or 
may  be   immediately  necessary  for  the  carrying  on  and   per- 
forming of  such  Service  and  the  said  Treasurers  or  either  of 
them  are  hereby  directed  and  required  to  answer  and  pay  such 


i8o  A  Colonial  Officer 

Warrants  as  aforesaid  out  of  the  contingent  Fund,  which  shall 
be  allowed  in  their  settlement  of  the  Public  Accounts. 

And  be  it  further  Enacted  by  the  Authority  aforesaid,  that 
if  any  number  of  Men  shall  be  found  embodied  and  in  an  armed 
and  hostile  Manner,  to  withstand  or  oppose  any  military  Forces, 
raised  in  Virtue  of  this  Act,  and  shall  when  openly  and  pub- 
licity required,  commanded  by  any  Justice  of  the  Peace  or 
Sheriff  of  the  County  where  the  same  shall  happen,  to  lay 
down  their  Arms  and  surrender  themselves,  and  then  and  in 
such  Case  the  said  Persons  so  unlawfully  assembled  and  with- 
standing, opposing  and  resisting  shall  be  considered  as  Traitors 
and  may  be  treated  accordingU. 

And  be  it  further  Enacted  by  the  Authority  aforesaid,  that 
the  Justices  of  every  Superior  Court  shall  cause  this  Act  to  be 
read  at  the  Court  House  Door,  the  second  Day  of  each  Court 
for  their  Counties,  and  that  the  Minister,  Clerk  or  Reader  of 
every  Parish  in  this  Province  shall  read  or  cause  the  same  to 
be  read  at  every  Church,  Chappel  or  other  Place  of  Public 
Worship  within  their  respective  Parishes,  once  in  three  Months 
at  least  immediately  after  Divine  Service,  during  the  continu- 
ance of  this  Act. 

And  be  it  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid  that  this  act 
shall  continue  and  be  in  Force  for  one  year  and  no  longer. 

Read  three  times  in  open  Assembly  and  Ratified  the  i5tli 
Day  of  January  1771. 

William  Tryon, 
James  Hasell, 

President. 
Richard  Ca.swell, 

vSpeaker. 
A  true  Copy  of  An  Act  passed  last  vSession  of  Assembly. 

Robert   Palmer, 
Secretarv. 


And  His  Times.  i8i 


CHAPTER  V. 


The  Social  Life  of  the  Colony— Marriage  of  General  Wadrlell — 
His  Civil  Services — Family — Death — Will — Conclusion  of 
Biography. 

^  f  "^HERE  is,  to  the  curious  in  such  matters, 
^  a  mine  of  the  most  interesting  information 
hidden  in  the  musty  records  of  the  oldest 
counties  in  North  Carolina,  and  until  these 
records  shall  have  been  exhausted — and  as  yet 
the}^  have  hardly  been  tapped — there  will  be 
no  perfect  portrait  of  the  early  civilization  of 
the  State. 

The  minute  books  of  the  Courts,  of  which 
tribunals  there  were  at  different  times  various 
sorts  with  curious  and  conflicting  jurisdictions, 
and  the  records  of  wills  and  deeds  in  the 
Clerks'  and  Registers'  offices,  present  the  most 
attractive  field  of  investigation ;  and  these, 
with  the  private  correspondence  and  traditions 
which  have  been  preserved  in  many  families, 
afford  the  best  if  not  the  only  accurate  picture 
of  the  social  life  and  customs  of  the  people. 

Some  of  these  customs  lingered  long  after 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  in 


1 82  A  Colonial  Officer 

some  parts  of  the  State  had  not  totally  disap- 
peared by  the  middle  of  it.  Especiall}^  was 
this  true  of  the  Scotch  element  of  the  popula- 
tion, who  settled  on  and  near  the  upper  Cape 
Fear  river,  and  some  of  whose  customs  are 
still  preserved  in  a  more  or  less  modified  form 
by  their  descendants.  The  settlers  who  came 
to  the  Colony  from  Ireland  were  themselves  of 
Scotch  descent  or  birth,  and  were  known  as 
Scotch-Irish.  The  Rowans,  whose  name 
was  pronounced  Roan,  came  originally  from 
Lanarkshire  in  Scotland,  as  did  the  ancestors  of 
General  Waddell,  and  it  was,  doubtless,  through 
the  connection  or  association  of  these  families 
and  that  of  Dobbs  that  young  Waddell  was 
induced  to  come  to  North  Carolina. 

The  social  life  was  a  reflex  of  that  in  the  old 
country,  and  to  the  miserable  libels  which, 
under  the  name  of  history,  have  been  pub- 
lished concerning  the  civilization  of  the  Colony, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  give  for  answer  the 
names  and  attainments  of  some  of  the  leading 
spirits  who  lived  in  it.  From  a  glance  at  them 
it  will  plainly  appear  that,  so  far  from  being 
the  rude — much  less  the  ignorant  and  de- 
graded— society  sometimes  represented,  they 
were,  in  proportion  to  population,  equal  in 
social  and  intellectual  culture  to  and  as  much 


And  His  Times.  i8 


0 


attached  to  the  principles  of  enlightened  libert}^ 
as  any  people  on  the  continent.  Alan}-  of  them 
were  educated  in  Knglish  universities,  or  at 
Edinboro  or  Dublin,  and  owned  large  estates 
where  they  dispensed  a  generous  and  elegant 
hospitality.  In  the  Northern  end  of  the 
Colony,  "the  Court  end  of  the  Province,"  in 
and  around  Edenton,  "there  was,"  says  McRee 
in  his  Li/e  and  Correspondence  of  James  Iredell^ 
"in  proportion  to  its  population,  a  greater 
number  of  men  eminent  for  ability,  virtue  and 
erudition  than  in  any  other  part  of  America," 
and  he  gives  a  long  list  of  names  with  a  brief 
biographical  notice  of  each  in  proof  of  his 
assertion.'-'  This  list  includes  John  Harvey, 
who  was  imquestionably  a  man  of  great  intel- 
lectual endowments,  and  who,  but  for  his  death 
in  1775,  would  have  been  a  great  leader  among 
the  statesmen  of  the  Revolution ;  Joseph 
Hewes,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence;  Samuel  Johnston,  a  great 
lawyer,  Governor  of  the  State  and  the  first 
Senator  from  North  Carolina  in  1789;  Colonel 
John  Dawson,  a  lawyer,  whose  mansion,  "  Eden 
House,"  was  the  resort  of  a  "refined  society," 
and   the  seat  of  a  "  splendid   hospitality,"  as 

*Vol.  I,  II. 


184  A  Colonial  Officer 

testified  to  bj-  ]Mr.  Avery  (who  was  himself  a 
graduate  of  Princeton,  was  a  signer  of  the 
Mecklenburg  Declaration,  and  Attorney'  Gene- 
ral of  the  State);  Colonel  Edward  Buncombe, 
an  educated  English  gentleman  of  large  wealth, 
who  was  Colonel  of  the  5th  Regiment  of  North 
Carolina  Troops,  and  killed  at  Germantown 
1777;  Thomas  Jones,  a  distinguished  lawyer, 
who  drafted  the  State  Constitution  in  1776; 
Sir  Nathaniel  Dukinfield,  a  member  of  the 
Council — and  many  others,  professional  men, 
merchants  and  planters,  to  whom  is  to  be 
added  James  Iredell,  the  great  law3^er,  who  was 
afterwards  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States. 

In  the  Southern  end  of  the  Province,  at 
Brunswick  and  Wilmington,  and  along  the 
Cape  Fear,  there  was  an  equally  refined  and 
cultivated  society  and  some  very  remarkable 
men.  No  better  society  existed  in  America, 
and  it  is  but  simple  truth  to  say  that  for  clas- 
sical learning,  wit,  oratory,  and  varied  accom- 
plishments no  generation  of  their  successors 
has  equalled  them. 

Their  hospitality  was  boundless  and  pro- 
verbial, and  of  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
enjoyed  there  can  be  no  counterpart  in  the 
present  age.     Some   of  them   had   town  resi- 


And  His  Times.  185 

deuces,  but  most  of  tliein  lived  on  their  planta- 
tions, and    they  were   not  the  thriftless  char- 
acters that  by  some  means  it  became  fashionable 
to   assume   that   all   Southern    planters   were. 
There  was  much  gayety  and  festivity  among 
them,  and  some  of  them  rode  hard  to  hounds^ 
but  as  a  general  rule   they  looked  after  their 
estates,  and  kept  themselves  as  well  informed 
in  regard  to  what  was  going  on   in  the  world 
as  the  limited  means  of  communication  allowed. 
There  was  little  display,  but  in  almost  every 
house  could  be  found  valuable   plate,  and,  in 
some,  excellent  libraries.     The  usual  mode  of 
travel   was    on    horseback,  and   in  "gigs"  or 
"  chairs,"   which  were  vehicles  without  springs 
biit  hung  on  heavy  straps,  and  to  which  one 
horse,  and   sometimes,  by   young   beaux,    two 
horses  tandem  were  driven  ;  a  mounted  servant 
rode   behind,  or,  if  the   gig   was   occupied  by 
ladies,    beside   the   horse.     The   family  coach 
was    mounted   by   three  steps,  and   had  great 
•  carved     leather    springs,   with     baggage  rack 
behind,  and  a  high,  narrow  driver's  seat  and 
box   in   front.     The   gentlemen  wore   clubbed 
and  powdered  queues  and  knee-breeches,  with 
buckled  low-quartered  shoes,  and  many  carried 
gold  or   silver   snuff-boxes   which,  being  first 
tapped,    were    handed    with    grave    courtes}^ 

13 


i86  A  Colonial  Officer 

to  their  acquaintances  when  passing  the 
compliments  of  the  day.  There  are  per- 
sons still  living  who  remember  seeing  these 
things  in  their  earl}^  youth.  The  writer  of 
these  lines  himself  remembers  seeing  in  his 
childhood  the  decaying  remains  of  old  "chairs" 
and  family  coaches,  and  knew  at  that  time 
several  old  negroes  who  had  been  bod}'  ser- 
vants in  their  youth  to  the  proprietors  of  these 
ancient  vehicles.  It  is  no  wonder  the}'  some- 
times drove  the  coaches  four-in-hand.  It  was 
not  only  grand  st\'le,  but  the  weight  of  the 
vehicle  and  the  character  of  the  roads  made  it 
necessary. 

During  the  period  embraced  in  these  pages, 
four-wheeled  pleasure  vehicles  were  rare,  and 
even  two-wheeled  ones  were  not  common, 
except  among  the  town  nabobs  and  well-to-do 
planters.  The  coaches,  or  chariots,  as  a  certain 
class  of  vehicles  was  called,  were  all  imported 
from  England,  and  the  possession  of  such  a 
means  of  locomotion  was  evidence  of  hiofh 
social  position.  It  was  less  than  twent\'  years 
before  the  period  named,  that  the  first  stage 
ivagon  in  the  Colonies,  in  1738,  was  run  from 
Trenton  to  New  Brunswick,  in  New  Jersey, 
twice  a  week,  and  the  advertisement  of  it 
assured  the  public  that  it  would  be  "fitted  up 


And  His  Times.  187 

with  benches  and  covered  over  so  that  passen- 
gers ma}^  sit  easy  and  dry.'"-' 

The  inns,  ordinaries,  or  taverns,  as  they 
were  called  before  the  word  Jiotcl  was  borrowed 
from  the  French,  were  few  and  far  between, 
and  were  of  the  most  primitive  kind,  and  the 
consequence  was,  that  every  man  of  substance 
kept  open  house  and  entertained  any  respect- 
able traveller,  as  a  matter  of  course,  without 
charge.  There  was  not  enough  travel  to  make 
it  burdensome,  and  the  occasional  travellers 
were  to  their  hosts  what  the  newspapers  of 
to-da}'  are  to  their  descendants ;  and  the  inform- 
ation imparted  by  them  and  the  pleasure  of 
their  company,  if  they  were  intelligent,  sup- 
plied the  place  of  the  currency  which  was 
generally  requisite  to  every  traveller  in  other 
parts  of  the  country  when  seeking  "  enter- 
tainment for  man  and  beast."  These  mere 
travellers  seldom  passed  through  the  back  set- 
tlements, but  only  along  or  near  the  seacoast, 
as  that  was  the  most  populous  and  wealthy 
region  of  the  country,  but  if  they  did  wander 
farther  into  the  interior  the  hospitality  was  as 
cordial,  if  less  elegant  in  its  surroundings. 
This    characteristic    of  the    people    of   North 


*Eilward  Eggleston  in  Century  Magazine  for  August,  1885. 


1 88  A  Colonial  Officer 

Carolina  marks  them  as  distinctly  now  as  it 
did  then,  bnt,  thanks  to  railroads  and  modern 
civilization,  they  are  not  recjnired  to  manifest 
it  in  the  same  way. 

As  the  Northern  Colonies  soon  became  popu- 
lous and  their  commercial  and  manufacturing 
interests  became  dominant,  there  was  a  corre- 
sponding change  in  their  social  customs;  but 
in  the  South,  which  has  alwaj^s  been  the  land 
of  the  planter,  the  conditions,  until  a  very 
recent  period,  were  little  varied,  and  the  social 
life  of  the  people  remained  much  the  same.  It 
was,  necessarily,  for  the  most  part,  a  simple 
and  unpretending  life,  in  which  the  cardinal 
virtues  were  cultivated,  and  it  was,  in  some 
respects,  siii  generis.  It  bred  pure  women 
and  brave  men  who  did  not  measure  the  merits 
of  others,  or  their  own,  by  the  extent  of  their 
worldly  possessions,  and  did  not  recognize  the 
golden  calf  as  an  object  of  worship. 

It  was  a  life  given  to  hospitality,  and, 
although  marked  by  some  features  which 
appear  rude  and  unattractive  to  modern  e3'es, 
was  characterized  by  others  which  might  be 
imitated  with  profit  by  the  present  generation. 
The  respect  for  authority,  the  deference  paid 
to  age,  to  parents,  and  to  women,  and  the 
sense   of  personal   honor    among   men  which 


And  His  Times.  189 

prevailed,  would  be  regarded  as  quite  fantastic 
in  this  age  of  superior  enlightenment;  but 
they  are,  after  all,  the  truest  signs  of  real 
civilization  and  the  safest  guarantees  of  good 
government. 

There  seems  to  have  been,  from  a  very  early 
period,  a  decided  taste  for  the  drama  in  Wil- 
mington, which  was  one  of  the  mau}-  evidences 
of  culture  amoii^  the  people.  Indeed,  the  first 
drama  ever  written  in  America  was  written 
there  in  1759  b}-  a  3'oung  man  named  Thomas 
Godfrey,  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  who  died  in 
Wilmington  August  3d,  1763,  aged  27,  and  is 
buried  in  St.  James's  church-yard.  His  father, 
of  the  same  name,  in  1730,  made  the  improve- 
ment on  Davis's  quadrant,  for  which  the  Royal 
Society  granted  him  ^  200. 

Young  Godfrey's  tragedy  was  entitled  "A 
Prince  of  Parthia."  It  was,  with  some  of  the 
author's  poems,  edited  by  Nathaniel  Evans, 
and  published  in  Philadelphia  in  1765.  It 
gave  much  promise,  but  the  early  death  of  the 
author  dashed  the  hopes  of  his  friends.  In 
Tjder's  "  History  of  American  Literature,"  it 
is  thus  spoken  of:  "The  whole  drama  is  pow- 
erful in  diction  and  in  action;  the  characters 
are  firnil}^  and  consistently  developed;  there 
are  scenes  of  pathos  and  tragic  vividness ;   the 


190  A  Colonial  Officer 

plot  advances  with  rapid   movement  and  with 
culminating  force." 

Doubtless,  during  the  sessions  of  the  Legis- 
lature "A  Prince  of  Parthia"  was  put  on  the 
boards  b}^  the  amateurs  of  Wilmington  and 
greeted  with  thunders  of  applause.  There 
were,  however,  some  professional  actors  of  dis- 
tinction who  played  there  in  those  days.  In 
an  interesting  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London, 
dated  June  nth,  1768,  Governor  Tryon  speaks 
of  a  talented  3'oung  actor,  named  Giffard,  who 
applied  to  him  for  recommendation  to  the 
Bishop  "for  ordination  orders,  he  having  been 
invited  by  some  principal  gentlemen  of  the 
Province  to  be  inducted  into  a  parish,  and  to 
set  up  a  school  for  the  education  of  3'outh." 
Tryon  said  the  young  man  had  assured  him 
that  it  was  no  sudden  caprice  that  induced  him 
to  make  the  application,  but  that  it  was  the 
result  of  very  mature  deliberation — "that  he 
was  most  wearied  of  the  vague  life  of  his 
present  profession,  and  full}^  persuaded  he 
could  employ  his  talents  to  more  benefit  to 
society  by  going  into  holy  orders  and  super- 
intending the  education  of  the  youth  in  this 
Province."  Tryon  also  expressed  a  doubt 
whether  the  Bishop  would  choose  to  take  a 
member  of  the  theatre   into   the   church,  but 


And  His  TimEvS.  191 

testified  to  the  young  man's  excellent  conduct, 
and  concluded  his  letter  with  the  following 
remark  :  "  If  your  Lordship  grants  Mr.  Giffard 
his  petition,  you  will  take  off  the  best  player 
on  the  American  stage."  Mr.  Giffard  took 
Tryon's  letter  to  London,  going  by  way  of 
Providence,  where  he  was  under  contract  to 
play,  but  whether  he  succeeded  in  his  wish  to 
enter  the  ministry,  or  ever  returned  to  North 
Carolina  or  not,  we  do  not  know. 

The  country  which  these  North  Carolina 
Colonists  inhabited  was  one  of  the  most  inviting 
regions  for  settlers  in  America.  The  climate 
was  mild,  the  soil  adapted  to  the  production  of 
every  cereal  and  plant  necessary  or  useful  to 
man  ;  the  forests  vast,  filled  with  game  of  every 
kind  and  fragrant  with  the  odors  of  a  thousand 
different  kinds  of  herbs  and  flowers ;  the  rivers 
were  numerous,  some  of  them  magnificent,  and 
all  teeming  with  fish  and  swarming  with  wild 
fowl.  Thus  all  the  conditions  required  for  the 
most  generous  display  of  plantation  hospitality 
were  present,  or  attainable  with  the  least  effort, 
and  the  consequence  was  that  a  social  life,  in 
many  respects  the  most  charming  and  peculiar 
that  has  perhaps  ever  existed,  was  developed 
and  continued  to  flourish  until  trampled  out 
of  existence  by  the  iron  heel  of  war. 


192  A  Colonial  Officer 

It  was  while  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  this 
social  life  during  an  interval  in  his  military 
service,  and  while  attending  the  session  of  the 
Assembly  at  Wilmington,  that  General  Wad- 
dell  met  the  lady  who  became  his  wife.  She 
was  Mary  Haynes,  daughter  of  Captain 
Roger  Haynes,  and  granddaughter  of  Rev. 
Richard  Marsden,  the  first  Rector  of  St.  James's 
Parish,  in  W^ilmington.  Of  Captain  Ha3mes 
very  little  is  known  beyond  the  fact  that  he 
was  in  the  British  service.  He  lived  at  Castle 
Haynes,'-'  about  nine  miles  North  of  Wilming- 
ton, on  the  Northeast  branch  of  Cape  Fear — 
which  plantation  adjoined  the  Hermitage 
where  Mr.  Marsden  lived — and  he  had  died 
previous  to  1753.  The  marriage  of  General 
Waddell  took  place  at  Castle  Haynes  some- 
time in  the  year  1762. 

The  only  other  daughter  of  Captain  Haynes, 
Margaret,  was  married  some  years  previously 
to  John  Burgwin,  Escp,  who  was,  for  a  time, 
the  Treasurer  of  the  Southern  part  of  the 
Province.  Not  long  after  General  Waddell's 
marriage  he  joined  Mr.  Burgwin  in  business 
in  Wilmington,  the  firm  being  John  Burgwin 
&  Co.,  with  branch  establishments  in   various 


*This  place  is  commonly  called  Castle  Hayne,  and  the  Rail- 
road vStation  there  is  so  labelled. 


And  His  Times.  i93 

places  in  the  back  country.     The  business  was 
managed  by  Mr.  Burgwin,  who  was  educated 
to   mercantile  life  in   England,  General  Wad- 
dell,  when  not  engaged  on  frontier-duty  or  in 
the   Legislature,    passing    most    of   his    time 
in    visiting  and  superintending    his  different 
estates,  of  which  there  were  four  or  five.     His 
principal  residence  was  at  Bellefont,  in  Bladen 
County,  generally  called  ''the  Waddell  place," 
which  is  situate  about  two   miles  below  Eliza- 
bethtown,  and  is  interesting  as  containing  the 
o-rave  of  the  distinguished  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Webster,    Lord    Cornwallis's    favorite    officer, 
who  was  mortally  wounded  at  Guilford  Court 
House   in    1781.-==     There   he    lived   for   some 
years  dispensing  a  most  generous  hospitality 
and  enjoying  the  unbounded  respect  and  con- 
fidence of  the  people. 

As  he  had  previously,  in  1757  and  1760, 
been  a  magistrate  and  member  of  Assembly 
from  Rowan  County,  so  in  1762  he  was  ap- 
pointed a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  elected  to 
the  Assembly  from  Bladen.      He  was  also  one 

*In  1810,  when  a  party  of  jjentleinen,  including  Judge 
Toomer  and  Hon.  Alfred  Moore,  went  to  Bellefont  to  remove 
the  remains  of  Judge  Alfred  Moore,  they  inquired  for  the  spot 
where  Webster  was  buried.  An  aged  slave  named  Lisburn, 
who  had  belonged  to  General  Waddell,  and  was  named  after 
his  birth-place  in   Ireland,  pointed  it  out  to  them,  he  having 


194  A  Colonial  Officp:r 

of  the  Justices  who  presided  over  the  Inferior 
Court  of  New  Hanover  County  in  1764,  and 
in  that  year  the  County  of  Brunswick  was 
established  out  of  the  territory  of  New  Han- 
over and  Bladen,  which  explains  his  being  in 
command  of  the  Brunswick  militia  in  the 
ensuing  year  when  the  Stamp  Act  troubles 
occurred.  The  record  does  not  show  his 
presence  in  the  Court  more  than  once  or  twice, 
nor  does  it  show  that  the  sessions  of  that  Court, 
which  met  every  three  months,  were  inter- 
rupted by  the  Stamp  Act  excitement;  but  on 
the  record  of  the  Superior  Court  for  April, 
1766,  there  is  the  following  entrj- : 

The  actions  for  trial  at  April  Term,  1766, 
were  all  continued  over  for  October  Term  on 
acc't  of  the  Stamp  Act. 

In  176S  he  went  on  a  visit  to  England  and 
Ireland,  and  while  there  sat  for  his  portrait  to 
a  distinguished  artist,  who  made  a  beautiful 
miniature  likeness  of  him  on  ivory.  From 
this  miniature,  which  is  the  only  picture  ever 
taken  of  him,  the  engraving  in  the  front  of  this 


witnessed  Webster's  funeral.  The  grave  was  opened,  and, 
upon  removing  the  decayed  lid  of  the  coffin,  there  lay  the 
British  hero,  perfect  for  an  instant  in  sight  of  all,  but  in  a 
moment  there  was  only  a  handful  of  brown  dust. — Stalcmctit 
of  Hon.  J)w.  D.  Toomer  and  Hon.  A.  Moore. 


And  His  Times.  195 

volume  is  taken.  It  is  believed  to  be  the  work 
of  Gainesborough. 

Until  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  as  has 
already  appeared,  General  Waddell  had  been 
a  staunch  and  steady  friend  of  the  government, 
and  one  of  its  well-tried  and  most  faithful  ser- 
vants, notwithstanding  the  annoying  and  irri- 
tating acts  of  the  unfortunate  and  unhappy 
Governor  Dobbs,  but  after  that  event  there  was 
an  evident  lack  of  zeal  in  his  loyalty,  although 
there  was,  as  yet,  no  talk  of  independence  any- 
where in  America.  He  was  again  a  member 
of  the  Assembl}'  in  1765,  when  Governor 
Try  on  prorogued  the  body  to  prevent  them 
from  sending  delegates  to  the  Stamp  Act  Con- 
gress, but  although  prevented  from  acting  in 
his  legislative  capacity  on  the  subject,  he  was, 
as  heretofore  described,  one  of  the  most  active 
leaders  of  the  popular  movement  against  it, 
both  in  the  meetings  which  passed  resolutions 
in  Wilmington  and  the  armed  resistance  at 
Brunswick.  He  was  again  a  member  in  1766 
and  in  1771,  after  the  Regulators'  war  w^as 
over.  He  owned  lands  in  Rowan,  Anson, 
Bladen  and  New  Hanover,  but  Bladen  was  the 
only  County  in  which  he  permanentl}' resided. 

It  seemed  to  have  been  no  unusual  thing  in 
those  days  for  a  man  to  live  in  one  county  and 


196  A  Colonial  Officer 

serve  as  a  representative  from  another,  just  as 
it  is  possible,  though  not  usual  now,  for  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  to  live  in  one  district  and  be 
elected  from  another  in  the  same  State. 

No  record  of  any  of  the  debates  in  the  Colo- 
nial Assembh'  was  kept,  and  onl}-  the  necessary 
minutes  of  the  sessions  were  preserved. 

From  these  General  Waddell  appears  to  have 
been  recognized  as  a  prominent  member,  as 
he  was  nearly  always,  put  upon  important 
committees;  but  the  probability  is,  that  he  was 
rather  a  "business"  member  than  a  speaker. 

It  w^as  the  general  supposition  that  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Council  either  durinor  Dobbs's 
or  Trj'on's  administration,  or  both;  but  the 
records  only  show  that  he  was  recommended 
to  the  Crown  by  Dobbs  in  1762,  and  Tryon  in 
1 77 1,  for  that  position. 

In  his  letter  to  Lord  Hillsborough,  dated 
Newbern,  aSthJanuary,  1771,  Tryon, after  nom- 
inating Colonel  Hugh  Waddell,  Mr.  Marma- 
duke  Jones,  and  Sir  Nathaniel  Dukenfield, 
uses  the  following  language: 

Colonel  Waddell  had  the  honor  to  see  your 
Lordship  about  two  years  since  in  England. 
He  honorably  distinguished  himself  last  war 
while  he  commanded  the  Provincials  of  this 
province  against  the  Cherokee  Indians,  pos- 
sesses an  easy  fortune,  and  is  in  much  esteem 


And  His  TimEvS.  197 

as  a  gentleman  of  honor  and  spirit.  He  has, 
I  confess,  endeared  himself  to  my  friendship 
b}'  the  generons  offer  he  made  me  bnt  last  week 
of  his  volnntary  services  against  the  insurgents 
of  this  province. 

He  does  not  seem  to  have  received  the  ap- 
pointment. The  Council  were  appointed  by 
the  Crown  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
Governor,  and  the  members  of  Assembly  were 
elected  by  the  people.  The  fact  that  even 
while  on  military  dut}'  he  was  often  chosen  by 
them  as  a  representative,  and  was  kept,  almost 
up  to  the  day  of  his  death,  alternating  between 
service  on  the  frontier  and  in  the  Assembly,  is 
the  strongest  evidence  that  he  held  a  high 
place  in  their  esteem  and  confidence.  Indeed, 
he  was  both  a  trusted  officer  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  a  universally  recognized  leader  of 
the  people  almost  from  the  beginning  of  his 
career  to  its  close — an  exceptional  distinction 
which  justifies  the  eulogiums  which  have  been 
pronounced  upon  him  in  the  pages  of  every 
North  Carolina  writer  who  has  discussed  the 
period  in  which  he  lived,  although  very  few  of 
the  details  of  his  public  service  or  private  life 
have  been  preserved. 

In  the  Fall  of  1772  he  was  contemplating 
another  visit  to  England,  and,  according  to  a 
family  tradition,  had  gone  to  Fort  Johnston, 


198  A  Colonial  Officer 

at  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear,  to  take  ship 
for  the  voyage,  when  he  was  seized  with  the 
illness  that  resulted  in  his  death.  The  same 
tradition  says  this  illness  was  caused  by  sleep- 
ing in  damp  sheets.  Whatever  the  cause  the 
sickness  was  of  long  duration,  for  in  his  will, 
which  was  made  on  the  loth  day  of  November, 
1772,  he  says:  "I,  Hugh  Waddell,  of  the 
County  of  Bladen,  and  Province  of  North  Caro- 
lina, being  sick  and  weak,"  &c.,  and  he  did 
not  die  until  the  9th  da}^  of  April  following, 
nearly  five  months  afterward. 

He  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  the 
39th  year  of  his  age,  and,  therefore,  the  refer- 
ences to  him  in  the  various  histories  of  the 
State  as  "the  old  General,"  "the  brave  old 
veteran,"  and  the  like,  furnish  a  good  illus- 
tration of  the  natural  but  sometimes  amusingly 
incorrect  habit  of  designating  persons  of  a  long- 
past  generation  as  "old,"  although  it  is  readily 
accounted  for  in  his  case,  by  the  fact  that  he 
had  been  longer  in  the  military  service,  and 
was  better  known  as  a  soldier  than  any  person 
in  the  Province  previous  to  the  Revolution. 

He  was  buried  at  Castle  Haynes,  which 
estate  came  to  him  through  his  wife,  and  she 
was  buried  there  three  or  four  years  afterwards. 

In  his  will,  which  disposed  of  a  large  estate 
{n  lands   in  Rowan,  Bladen  and  New  Hanover 


And  His  TimEvS.  199 

Counties,  and  in  slaves,  town  lots,  "  goods 
and  profits  in  trade,"  plate,  &c.,  &c.,  there  is 
no  mention  made  of  any  relative  besides  his 
wife  and  children,  except  his  "sister  Han- 
nah, of  the  Count}'  of  Down  in  the  North  of 
Ireland,"  to  whom  he  bequeathed  one  hundred 
guineas.  He  had  other  relatives,  more  or  less 
near,  residing  in  Ireland,  however,  and  their 
descendants  now  reside  in  and  about  Lisburn, 
from  which  place  he  came. 

"The  blind  preacher"  of  Virginia,  to  whom 
reference  has  alread}-  been  made  as  having 
come  from  the  same  part  of  Ireland  about  the 
same  time,  was  near  the  same  age  as  the  Gen- 
eral, and  the  two  well  illustrated,  though  in 
different  spheres,  the  race  to  which  the}-  be- 
longed, which  for  piety  and  pugnacity  is  facile 
princeps  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Each 
was  an  agent  of  civilization,  and  both  died  with 
the  consciousness  of  duty  faithfully  done, 
leaving  to  their  posterity  an  honorable  name 
and  fame. 

General  Waddell,  by  his  marriage,  had  three 
sons,  Haynes,  Hugh  and  John.  They  were 
sent  to  England  to  be  educated  after  his  death, 
and  the  oldest,  Hajaies,  having  contracted  an 
illness  from  hunting  in  the  Fens  of  Lincoln- 
shire, died  on  his  return  voyage  to  America  in 
1784,  and  was  buried  at  sea.     He  was  not  of 


200  A   Colonial  Officer 

age,  as  appears  b}-  a  recital  in  a  deed  from  his 
brothers. 

The  two  surviving  sons,  Hugh  and  John, 
divided  one  of  the  largest  estates  on  the  Cape 
Fear,  and  each  by  his  subsequent  marriage 
received  a  large  addition  to  his  propert3^ 
Hugh  married,  first.  Miss  Heron,  by  whom  he 
had  one  daughter,  Mrs.  John  Swann,  and  next 
the  daughter  of  Judge  Alfred  Moore,  b}-  whom 
he  had  a  large  famil}^  John  married  the  only 
daughter,  and  only  child,  of  General  Francis 
Nash,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  German- 
town  in  1777.  They  both  became  planters  on 
the  Cape  Fear  and  continued  so  all  their  lives. 
Hugh  died  at  Bellefont  in  1827,  and  John  at 
Pittsboro  in  1830.  They  took  no  part  in  pub- 
lic affairs,  but  commanded  the  respect  and  good 
will  of  all  who  knew  them  by  practicing  the 
sweet  charities  of  life.  The  former  was  uni- 
versally recognized  as  the  Uncle  Toby  of  his 
generation,  and  the  latter  as  a  model  country 
gentleman. 

More  than  a  year  and  a  half  had  elapsed 
after  the  Regulators'  war  before  General  Wad- 
dell  was  attacked  by  the  disease  which  finally 
killed  him,  and  during  that  period  the  idea  of 
separation  from  Great  Britain  took  root  in  the 
Colonies  and  began  to  grow  with  great  rapidity 


And  His  Times.  201 

throughout  the  whole  of  America.  When 
Josiah  Quincey,  of  Boston,  visited  the  Cape 
Fear  country  in  the  Spring  of  1773,  and  en- 
joyed so  much  the  hospitality  extended  to  him 
by  the  ''best  company,"  as  related  in  his 
Memoirs,  and  while  "the  plan  of  Continental 
correspondence,  highl}^  relished,  much  wished 
for,  and  resolved  upon  as  proper  to  be  pursued  " 
by  his  hosts,  was  being  hatched.  General  Wad- 
dell  was  on  his  death-bed ;  otherwise  he  would 
have  been  very  sure,  like  his  intimate  friends 
who  were  present,  to  have  taken  a  part  in  those 
deliberations. 

That  he  would,  if  he  had  lived,  have  been 
an  active  and  prominent  leader  in  the  Revo- 
lution— certainly  the  most  prominent  North 
Carolina  soldier — admits  of  no  doubt.  All  his. 
friends  and  associates  on  the  Cape  Fear,  as 
well  as  his  comrades  before  and  at  the  time  of 
the  Regulators'  outbreak,  were  among  the  first 
to  take  up  arms ;  and,  being  like-minded  with 
them  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  the  Colonics, 
his  military  experience  and  soldierly  qualities 
would  have  marked  him  at  once  as  the  most 
fitting  person  in  North  Carolina  for  military 
command,  while  his  acquaintance  and  former 
service  with  General  Washington  would  have 
secured  the  confidence  of  the  Commander-in- 
14 


202  A  Colonial   Officer 

Chief  from  the  outset.  The  State  suffered  a 
great  loss  in  his  premature  death  at  that  criti- 
cal period. 

In  reviewing  his  life  and  reflecting  upon  the 
events  amidst  which  it  was  passed,  one  must 
be  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  services  ren- 
dered to  their  countr}^  and  to  posterit}^  by  the 
men  who  then  inhabited  the  Colonies.  It  is 
hardly  possible  for  us  of  the  present  generation 
to  fully  appreciate  the  nature  and  importance 
of  those  services.  How  difficult,  for  instance, 
would  it  be  in  these  daj'S  of  telegraphs,  rail- 
roads, breech-loading  arms,  pontoon  trains, 
and  the  like,  to  appreciate  thoroughly  the 
trials  and  dangers  accompanying  the  expedi- 
tion from  middle  North  Carolina  through  that 
terrible  mountain  wilderness  to  Tennessee,  or 
that  one  to  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania  (Fort  Du 
Quesne),  on  foot,  without  quartermaster  or 
commissary  stores,  artillery  or  camp  equipage, 
and  armed  with  flint-lock  muskets,  which  a 
heavy  rain  might  render  useless;  and  this,  too, 
through  a  hostile  region  swarming  with  merci- 
less savages,  from  whom  at  every  mountain 
pass  or  covert,  at  every  hour,  day  or  night,  an 
attack  might  be  expected  !  The  North  Caro- 
lina trcops  at  Fort  Loudon  and  Fort  Du  Quesne 


And  His  Times.  203 

were  actually  farther  from  home  than  the}'- 
would  be  to-day  if  in  Mexico  or  Europe. 

And  if  we  turn  from  the  physical  trials  by 
which  they  were  beset,  to  the  moral  problems 
which  confronted  them,  our  respect  and  admi- 
ration for  them  is  only  increased.  The  diffi- 
culties constantly  arising  in  the  administration 
of  their  local  affairs,  the  perpetual  conflicts 
with  exacting  and  tyrannical  Roj-al  Govern- 
ors, and  the  increasing  encroachments  by  the 
Crown  and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  upon 
their  inherited  and  chartered  rights  as  British 
subjects,  which  finally  drove  them  into  armed 
rebellion,  were  all  met  and  overcome  with  the 
same  heroic  spirit. 

It  is  an  old  story,  and  one  that  has  often 
burned  on  eloquent  lips  and  been  pictured  by 
the  brush  of  the  literary  artist,  but  for  the 
patriot  and  student  of  history  it  can  never 
cease  to  have  a  profound  interest,  for  it  repro- 
duces for  his  contemplation  an  era  full  of 
valuable  lessons. 


204  A   Colonial  Officer 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Former  Town  of  Brunswick,  on  the 
Cape  Fear  River. 


I 


N  Clarendon's  History  of  the  Rebellion,  the 
following  passage  occurs : 


There  had  been,  some  months  before,  a  design 
of  Prince  Rupert  upon  the  cit\^  of  Bristol,  by 
correspondence  with  some  of  the  chief  inhabi- 
tants of  the  city,  who  were  weary  of  the  tyranny 
of  Parliament ;  but  it  had  been  so  uu skilfully 
or  unhappily  carried  that  when  the  Prince  was 
near  the  town,  with  such  a  party  of  horse  and 
foot  as  he  made  choice  of,  it  was  discovered, 
and  many  principal  citizens  apprehended  by 
Nathaniel  Fiennes,  son  of  the  Lord  Sa}',  and 
then  Governor  of  that  city  for  the  Parliament. 
At  this  time  special  direction  and  order  was 
sent  thither  "that  he  should,  with  all  severity 
and  expedition,  proceed  against  those  conspira- 
tors (as  they  called  them);  and,  thereupon, 
by  a  sentence  and  judgment  of  a  council 
of  war,  Alderman  Yeoman s,  who  had  been 
High  Sheriff  of  the  city,  and  of  great  reputa- 
tion in  it,  and  George  Bouchier,  another  citizen 
of  principal  account,  were  (against  all  interposi 
tion  his  Majesty  could  make)    both  hanged  '"' 


inn 


*VoL  I,  page  3S9,  Oxford  Edition,  1843. 


And  HIvS  TimEvS.  205 

The  time  at  which  this  event  occurred  was 
in  the  year  1643,  ^^^*^  this  was  the  fate  of  the 
loyalist  leader  Yeomans. 

Two  3'ears  previous  thereto  the  quickl3^-sup- 
pressed,  but  bloody  Irish  rebellion  had  broken 
out,  and  Hume,  in  his  history,  thus  speaks  of 
one  of  the  instigators  of  that  enterprise: 

x\  gentleman,  called  Roger  Moore,  much 
celebrated  among  his  countrymen  for  valor 
and  capacity,  formed  the  project  of  expelling 
the  English,  and  engaged  all  the  heads  of  the 
native  Irish  in  the  conspirac}?-,  especially  Sir 
Phelim  O'Neale,  the  representative  of  the 
Tyrone  famil}^  and  Lord  Maguire. 

Unable  to  control  the  fur}^  of  the  Irish,  who 
began  a  general  massacre,  and  horrified  by 
their  atrocities,  Moore  fled  from  the  country 
and  went  to  Flanders. 

Upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  II,  in  recog- 
nition of  his  father's  services,  the  oldest  son  of 
Robert  Yeomans  (or  Yeamans,  as  he  spelled 
it),  who  had  gone  to  seek  his  fortune  in  Bar- 
badoes,  was  knighted  by  the  King  and  became 
Sir  John  Yeamans.  He,  with  other  gentlemen 
there,  sent,  in  1663,  "^^  expedition  under  Hilton 
to  explore  the  Cape  Fear  River,  on  which  a 
Massachusetts  colou}^  had  made  (but  soon 
abandoned)   a  settlement  in   1660.     Upon  the 


2o6  A  Colonial  Officer 

return  of  the  expedition  with  a  glowing  ac- 
count of  the  country,  Sir  John  Yeamans 
brought  over  a  colou}^,  and  in  1665  settled  it 
upon  the  site  of  the  former  one  at  the  mouth 
of  Town  Creek,  eight  miles  below  Wilming- 
ton, on  the  west  bank  of  the  river.  He  received 
from  the  Lords  Proprietors  a  grant  for  thirt}^- 
two  miles  square,  and  was  made  the  Governor 
of  the  colony.  He  remained  there  six  years, 
and,  in  1671,  was  made  Governor  of  "Carteret 
County,"  as  South  Carolina  was  then  called, 
to  which  place  he  went,  taking  his  colony  with 
him,  and  soon  after  founded  Charleston,  which 
was  the  name  of  the  settlement  he  had  left  on 
Town  Creek. 

While  residing  there,  James  Moore,  the 
grandson  of  the  rebel  Roger  Moore,  who  had  also 
come  to  America  to  seek  his  fortune,  married 
the  daughter  of  Yeamans,  thus  uniting  the 
blood  of  the  English  loyalist  and  Irish  rebel, 
and  afterwards  was  also  Governor  of  South 
Carolina. 

The  younger  son  of  Governor  James  Moore, 
Maurice  Moore,  having  come  with  his  brother, 
Colonel  James  Moore,  to  suppress  the  Indian 
outbreaks  in  North  Carolina  in  1 7 1 1 ,  con- 
cluded that  he  would  re-settle  the  Cape  Fear, 
which  had  remained  unoccupied  ever  since  his 


And  HIvS  TimKvS.  207 

grandfather's  colon}'  left  it,  and  accordingly 
he  returned  there  about  1723,  and  in  1725  laid 
out  the  town  of  Brunswick,  about  eight  miles 
below  the  site  of  the  original  settlement,  and 
sixteen  miles  below  Wilmington.  Two  of  his 
brothers,  Roger  and  Nathaniel,  came  with  him, 
as  did  many  others. 

How  it  was  laid  out  is  told  in  an  Act  of  the 
Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  passed  at  the 
session  which  began  on  the  20th  April,  1745 
(old  style).  The  Act  was  entitled  "An  Act 
to  encourage  persons  to  settle  in  the  town  of 
Brunswick,  on  the  Southwest  side  of  Cape  Fear 
River,"  and  the  preamble  sets  forth  the  fact 
that  Maurice  Moore,  Esq.,  then  deceased,  had 
given  320  acres  of  land  on  the  Southwest  side 
of  Cape  Fear  for  a  town  called  Brunswick  (in 
1725),  and  that  "the  Hon.  Roger  Moore, 
Esq.,"  in  order  to  make  the  town  more  regu- 
lar, had  added  another  parcel  of  land  to  it ; 
that  a  great  part  of  said  lands  was  laid  out  in 
lots  of  a  half  acre  each,  many  of  which  were 
taken  up  and  good  houses  built  thereon;  and 
proper  places  were  appointed  by  Maurice  Moore 
for  a  church,  court-house,  burying-place,  market 
house,  and  other  public  buildings;  that  con- 
fusion had  arisen  about  some  of  the  titles  to 
the    unsold    part,  which  it    was    desirable    to 


:2o8  A  Colonial  Officer 

settle,  etc.  "And  whereas,  the  trade  of  Cape 
Fear  River  consists  in  naval  stores,  rice  and 
lumber,  commodities  of  great  bulk  and  small 
value,  all  due  encouragement  ought  to  be 
given  to  large  ships  to  come  into  the  said  river 
to  take  off  the  said  commodities;  and  as  all 
large  ships  which  come  into  the  said  river  are 
obliged  to  lie  at  Brunswick,  and  that  town,  for 
the  want  of  a  sufficient  number  of  inhabitants, 
and  by  reason  of  the  easy  navigation  thereto, 
is  much  exposed  to  the  invasion  of  foreign 
enemies  in  time  of  war,  and  pirates  in  time  of 
peace,  therefore  we  pra}^  your  most  sacred 
Majesty  that  it  may  be  enacted,"   &c. 

The  last  lines  of  the  above  preamble  set 
forth  facts,  the  truth  of  which  was  amply  jus- 
tified b}'  the  depth  of  water  marked  on  Wim- 
ble's map  of  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear,  made 
in  1738,  and  b}^  the  raids  of  the  two  pirates, 
Richard  Worley  and  Steed  Bonnet,  who  were 
captured  and  hanged  by  Governor  Johnson  and 
William  Rhett,  in  the  year  i^i'jf  and  these 
facts  were  further  justified  by   the  attack  of 


*The  Boston  News-Letter  of  July  i6tli,  1724,  says  that  his 
Majesty's  ship  "Station,"  captured  and  carried  into  Charles- 
ton 130  pirates,  from  \vhoni  the}-  took  ^5,000  as  the  share  of 
■each  of  the  captors. 


And  HivS  Times.  209 

a  Spanish  squadron  on   the.  town  three  years 
after  the  passage  of  the  Act. 

The  town  was  twenty  years  old  when  the 
Act  was  passed.  It  never  contained  more  than 
four  hundred  white  inhabitants,  but  there  were 
among  these  many  of  the  wealthiest,  most 
refined  and  cultivated  people  in  the  Province — 
the  equals  in  every  respect  of  the  best  people 
on  the  continent — and  the  reputation  of  the 
town  for  intelligence,  public  spirit  and  un- 
bounded hospitality  soon  became  wide- spread. 
The  fact  that,  for  reasons  which  will  presently 
be  given,  the  population  of  Brunswick  was 
eventually  absorbed  by  the  younger  town  of 
Wilmington  (both  towns  being  in  New  Han- 
over County  until  1764,  when  Brunswick 
County  was  established),  will  explain  the  con- 
fusion that  has  appeared  sometimes  in  North 
Carolina  histories  in  the  assignment  of  a  resi- 
dence to  certain  distinguished  men  in  both 
towns,  or  only  in  Wilmington. 

At  March  Term,  1727,  of  the  General  Court, 
held  at  Edenton,  the  following  entry  was  made  : 

It  being  represented  to  this  Court  that  it  is 
highly  necessary  that  a  Ferry  should  be  settled 
over  tape  Fear  River,  and  that  part  of  the 
Province  not  being  laid  out  into  precincts, 
therefore  it  is  bv  this  Court  ordered,  that  the 


2IO  A  Colonial  Officer 

Ferr}^  be  kept  for  that  river  b}^  Cornelius 
Harnett,  from  the  place  designed  for  a  town 
on  the  West  side  of  the  river  to  a  place  called 
the  Haule-over.  And  that  he  receive  the  sum 
of  five  shillings  for  a  man  and  horse,  and  half 
a  crown  for  each  person,  and  that  no  person  to 
keep  any  Ferry  within  ten  miles  of  the  said 
places. 

This  ferry  was  reached  from  the  North  by 
the  road  which  passed  over  the  little  bridge 
on  Smith's  Creek,  and  thence  due  South  along 
what  is  now  MacRae  Street  in  Wilmington  to 
the  Haul-over  nearl}^  opposite  Brunswick. 

This  road  to  Brunswick,  through  Wilming- 
ton, was  at  that  time  the  only  route  from  the 
Northern  part  of  the  Province  to  South  Caro- 
lina. The  only  two  ferries  on  the  lower  Cape 
Fear  were  this  at  Brunswick,  and  one  where 
Wilmington  now  is;  and  this  latter  was  not 
directly  across  the  river,  but  from  about  the 
foot  of  the  present  Dock  street,  past  Point  Peter, 
and  four  miles  up  the  Northwest  branch  to 
MacLaine's  Bluff,  where  the  Navassa  Factory 
now  stands.  The  causeway  across  Eagles's 
Island  was  begun  by  Colonel  Wm.  Dry  in 
December,  1764,  and  finished  by  Governor 
Benjamin  Smith  in  1791,  under  Acts  of  As- 
sembly. 

The  Cornelius  Harnett  named  in  the  x\ct  of 


And  HIvS  Times.  211 

1727,  was  the  father  of  the  distinguished  man 
of  that  name,  and  was  either  already  a  resi- 
dent of  Brunswick,  or  moved  there  soon  after. 
It  was  said  that  he  kept  the  inn  there,  and 
certain  deeds  corroborate  the  statement.  His 
son  was  four  years  old  when  this  order  of  the 
General  Court  establishing  the  ferry  was  made, 
and  he  passed  his  youth  and  early  manhood  in 
Brunswick,  and  very  probably  was  one  of  those 
who  helped  to  drive  off  the  Spaniards  and  blow 
up  one  of  their  ships  in  1748,  as  he  was  then 
twenty-five  years  old.  His  name  is  a  house- 
hold word  on  the  Cape  Fear,  and  his  career  is 
a  part  of  the  history  of  the  Revolutionary 
period.  He  is  regarded,  however,  as  a  Wil- 
mington man,  because  he  began  to  attain  dis- 
tinction after  removing  there,  lived  the  greater 
part  of  his  life  there,  and  died  there. 

Indeed,  that  may  be  said  of  the  majorit}^  of 
the  great  men  of  the  lower  Cape  Fear  during 
the  Revolution,  as  at  that  time  it  was  the  only 
town  in  that  section  of  the  State ;  but  most  of 
them  had  previously  lived  in  Brunswick,  or 
its  vicinity.  Hooper,  the  signer  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  had  not,  as  he  did  not 
come  to  North  Carolina  from  Massachusetts 
until  1764;  but  MacLaine  and  McGuire,  each 
of    whom    became    Attornc}^    General,  and    a 


212  A  Colonial  Officer 

number  of  other  distinguished  men,  moved  to 
Wilmington  after  Brunswick  began  to  decay. 
McGuire  was  a  loyalist  when  the  Revolution 
broke  out,  and  went  to  England,  but  the  others 
w^ere  all  patriots,  and  some  of  them  became 
leaders  in  that  struggle.  General  Robert 
Howe,  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  these 
leaders,  always  lived  in  or  near  Brunswick  ; 
and  so  did  General  James  Moore,  who  com- 
manded the  whole  Southern  Department,  and 
his  brother,  Judge  Maurice  Moore,  and  the 
latter's  son.  Judge  Alfred  Moore,  afterwards  a 
Judge  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
and  some  of  the  distinguished  members  of  the 
Ashe  family,  and  Governor  Benj.  Smith  and 
Colonel  Wm.  Dr^^,  and  many  others  of  note. 

When  the  character  and  fame  of  these  men 
are  considered,  and  the  size  of  the  town  is 
remembered,  it  ma}^  be  confidently  asserted 
that  no  community,  so  small,  on  the  continent, 
ever  contained  at  the  same  time  so  man}'  men 
who  afterwards  became  so  distinguished  as 
soldiers  and  jurists  and  statesmen. 

And  yet,  alas!  except  in  the  faintest  and 
most  confused  way,  not  only  the  deeds,  but 
the  very  names  of  these  heroes  and  patriots 
have  well-nigh  ceased  to  be  remembered,  and 
the  place  of  their  abode — once  the  busy  mart, 


And  HivS  Times.  213 

the  seat  of  refined  culture  and  generous  hos- 
pitality— has  long  been  the  home  of  the  fox 
and  the  owl.  A  few  grave-stones  and  the  four 
walls  of  the  old  church  of  St.  Philip,  sur- 
rounded by  a  tangled  thicket,  are  the  only 
remaining  evidences  of  the  existence  of  the 
ancient  borough. 

The  old  church  was  built  of  brick  imported 
from  England,  and  the  walls  are  nearly  three 
feet  thick.  They  are  solid  still,  though  scarred 
and  pitted  by  shot  fired  in  two  wars,  and  will 
apparently  stand  for  another  century.  The 
dense  thicket  of  trees  and  shrubbery  not  only 
incloses  the  burying-ground  and  church,  but 
has  taken  possession  of  the  interior  of  the 
church,  and  trees,  several  inches  in  diameter, 
have  sprung  out  of  the  tops  of  the  walls.  It 
must  have  been  quite  an  imposing  structure, 
with  its  high  pitch  and  three  lofty  arched 
doors,  and  the  chancel  windows  were  quite 
grand.  Its  dimensions  were  as  follows :  length, 
76.6;  width,  54.3;  height  of  walls  now  stand- 
ing, 24.4;  number  of  windows  11,  measuring 
15x7  feet;  doors,  3;  thickness  of  walls,   2.9. 

During  the  late  war  between  the  States,  a 
heavy  earthwork,  called  Fort  Anderson,  was 
constructed  between  the  church  and  the  river, 
and  on   the  spot  where   nearly    one   hundred 


214  A  Colonial  Officer 

years  before  the  defiant  patriots  stood  resisting 
the  landing  of  the  stamps. 

In  digging  away  the  earth  for  the  construc- 
tion of  this  work,  the  laborers  found  some  old 
coin  and  other  relics.  When  the  fort,  after 
a  severe  bombardment  by  the  United  States 
fleet,  was  abandoned,  before  the  fall  of  Wil- 
mington in  1865,  the  Northern  soldiers  occu- 
pied it,  and  the  corner-stone  of  the  venerable 
sanctuary,  which  had  been  respected  for  more 
than  a  century,  was  dug  out,  and  some  of  the 
tombs  were  broken  into,  probably  in  a  fruitless 
search  for  treasure.  If  the  soldier  who  removed 
one  particular  grave-stone  could  read  Latin, 
and  was  not  utterly  insensible,  he  must  have 
felt  a  little  uncomfortable,  especially  if  he 
observed  that  the  occupant  of  that  tomb  was  a 
3^outhful  bride  of  seventeen,  for  on  the  slab 
was  carved  the  old  curse, 

"  Quisquis  hoc  maniior  susiiilerit 
iUiimus  siiorimi  moriatury 

ly  its  earliest  days,  the  Legislature  used 
sometimes  to  meet  in  Brunswick,  and  Governor 
Gabriel  Johnstone,  of  pleasant  memory,  upon 
his  arrival  in  October,  1734,  took  the  oaths  of 
office  there. 

In  1748  the  town  was  attacked  by  a  squad- 


And  His  Times.  215 

ron  of  Spanish  privateers,  who  had  entered  the 
river  and  were  plundering  the  country ;  but 
the  pluck}^  inhabitants  rallied  to  the  defence 
of  their  property  and  whipped  off  the  invaders, 
after  blowing  up  one  of  their  ships  and  cap- 
turing some  valuable  propert}'.  This  attack 
occurred  on  the  Sth  November,  1748 — at  least 
the  vessel  was  blown  up  on  that  day — and 
among  the  articles  captured  was  a  painting, 
an  '"  Eccc  Homo,'"'  which  had  probably  been 
stolen  from  some  church  or  private  residence 
somewhere  on  the  coast.  The  captured  prop- 
ert}^  was  appropriated,  b\'  an  Act  of  the  Legis- 
lature, to  the  church  of  St.  Philip  at  Brunswick, 
and  the  church  of  St.  James  at  Wilmington, 
and  the  ^'' Ecce  Ho^no^''  is  still  preserved  in  the 
vestry-room  of  St.  James.  It  is  not  a  fine  work 
of  art,  but  is  an  interesting  memento  of  the 
gallant  exploit  of  the  men  of  Brunswick.  The 
pirates  continued  their  work  up  to  a  much 
later  date.'-' 


*There  are  several  privateers  on  our  coast  from  the  West 
Indies  ;  they  have  taken  an  English  ship  coming  to  Cape  Fear 
with  dry  goods,  and  another  small  vessel,  and  have  turned  the 
sailors  ashore,  and  we  have  no  sloop  to  cruise  upon  the  coast. 
The  Baltimore,  Captain  Hood,  which  should  be  stationed  at 
Cape  Fear,  was  called  off  in  Spring  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  hith- 
erto when  they  return  in  Winter,  they  look  into  Cape  Fear 
and  stay  some  days,  but  finding  no  balls  or  entertainments 


2i6  A  Colonial  Officer 

It  was  at  Brunswick  that  George  III  was 
proclaimed  King  in  the  presence  of  the  Gov- 
ernor (Dobbs),  the  members  of  the  Council, 
and  a  number  of  the  principal  inhabitants  and 
planters.  An  account  of  the  ceremon}^  was 
given  by  Governor  Dobbs  in  a  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  under  date  of 
February  9th,  1761,'-'  as  follows: 

I  sent  for  such  of  the  Council  as  were  in 
this  neighborhood,  and  next  day,  Frida}-,  had 
his  Majesty  proclaimed  here  by  all  the  gentle- 
men near  this  place,  the  militia  drawn  out  and 
a  triple  discharge  from  Fort  Johnston  of  twen- 
t3'-one  guns,  and  from  all  the  ships  in  the 
river;  and  at  the  same  time  sent  out  an  express 
for  the  other  Councillors  in  this  neighborhood 
to  meet  me  at  Wilmington  next  day,  Saturday 
the  7th,  where  his  Majesty  was  again  pro- 
claimed by  the  corporation  and  gentlemen  of 
the  neighborhood,  under  a  triple  salute  of 
twenty-one  guns,  where  M^e  had  an  entertain- 
ment prepared;  the  militia  were  drawn  out, 
and  the  evening  concluded  by  bonfires,  illumi- 
nations, and  a  ball  and  supper  with  all  una- 
nimity and  demonstrations  of  joy. 

there,  they  sail  away  and  spend  the  Winter  in  Charles  Town, 
under  pretence  that  they  can't  clean  in  at  Cape  Fear,  although 
they  may  have  all  conveniences  for  it. — Dobbs  to  Board  of 
Trade,  October  2,1st,  1756. 

*Colonial  Records,  Vol.  VI,  520. 


And  His  Times.  217 

He  also  said  that  he  had  sent  the  procLaiiui- 
tion  by  express  to  Newbern  to  be  published 
and  forwarded  to  every  eounty  and  borough  in 
the  Provinee. 

Under  date  of  April  i6th,  1761,  the  Rev. 
John  McDowell,  Rector  of  the  Parish  of  St. 
Philip — in  a  long  complaining  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel,  in  which  he  is  severe  on  his  Ves- 
try— writes:  "The  roof  of  the  new  church  at 
Brunswick  is  fallen  down  again:  it  was  struck 
with  lightning  last  July,  and  afterwards  a 
prodigious  and  immoderate  quantity  of  rain 
fallino-  on  it  made  it  all  tumble  do\vn,  and  there 
it  lies  just  as  it  fell;  the  chapel  is  a  most 
miserable  old  house,  only  twenty-four  feet  by 
fifteen,  and  every  shower  of  rain  or  blast  of 
wind  blow^s  quite  through  it."  The  reverend 
gentleman  seemed  to  be  about  to  quit  his 
charge  because  of  difficulties  with  his  Vestry, 
who,  he  said,  strove  to  keep  their  minister  "in 
the  greatest  state  of  subjection  and  depend- 
ence," and  wouldn't  pay  him  a  sufficient  salary, 
and  were,  some  of  them,  sadly  lacking  in  piety. 
He  modestly  says,  "  But  they  will  repent  their 
obliging  me  to  leave  them,  for  I  have  done  and 
would  have  done  more  for  them  than  any  they 
have  ever  had,  or,  I  dare  say,  ever  will  have.'^ 
15 


2i8  A  Colonial  Officer 

It  would  be  unfair  to  the  Vestrj^,  however,  not 
to  publish  their  side  of  the  case,  which  is  con- 
tained in  the  following  suggestive  letter,  dated 
Brunswick,  24th  March,  1761,  and  addressed 
to  the  Rector: 

The  Vestry  have  taken  into  consideration 
the  difficulties  you  allege  in  officiating  at  the 
Blue  Banks  during  the  two  hot  and  two  cold 
months,  and  are  content  that  you  be  permitted 
to  exchange  the  Sundays  in  July  and  August, 
allotted  for  that  Chapel,  with  Brunswick  for 
other  Sunda3'S  in  a  more  moderate  season,  3'ou 
ofivincr  due  notice  of  such  exchanore;  and  as  to 
cold  months,  we  know  of  none  in  this  countr}' 
to  prevent  one  of  your  health}^  constitution 
from  riding  twenty-four  miles:  indeed,  a  da}' 
of  bad  weather  may  happen  now  and  then,  for 
which  accident  all  reasonable  allowance  will 
be  made,  as  heretofore  has  been  made.  As  to 
the  addition  of  salary  which  you  insist  on,  we 
cannot  but  observe  that  when  you  agreed  to 
serve  the  cure  of  this  Parish  on  the  5th  June, 
1758,  you  thankfully  accepted  of  ^100  a  year, 
when  your  family  was  larger  than  it  is  now, 
and  you  willingly  undertook  harder  dut}^  than 
is  now  proposed  to  you. 

But  now.  Sir,  his  Excellency  the  Governor 
and  Vestry,  having  bj^  their  joint  recommen- 
dation of  3^ou,  procured  ;^50  sterling  a  3'ear, 
the  generous  bount}^  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagating  the  Gospel,  you  disdain  to  accept 
from  our  Parish  ^120  Proclamation   mone\'  a 


And  His  Times.  219 

year;  you  discover  difficulties  in  the  exercise 
of  your  function  which  never  before  occurred, 
and  3'ou  are  pleased  to  insist  on  such  a  salar}^ 
as  the}'  never  have  given,  and  such  as  niau}^ 
of  this  Parish,  in  the  present  distressed  state 
of  their  trade  and  circumstances,  cannot  easily 
give  \'ou. 

If  3^ou  are  pleased  to  continue  on  the  terms 
we  have  now  proposed,  we  shall  be  glad  to 
contribute  all  in  our  power  to  make  ever}^  part 
of  3'our  duty  agreeable  to  you.  We  are,  Rev. 
Sir,  3'Our  most  humble  servants. 

It  was  several  years  before  the  church  was 
finished  and  dedicated,  it  seems,  for  the  Rev. 
John  Barnett,  writing  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  from 
Brunswick  on  the  nth  June,  1768,  says  that 
though  he  had  apprehended  great  delay  in  the 
finishing  the  new  church,  it  was  then  "  so 
nearl}'  completed  as  with  great  decenc}-  to 
admit  of  the  performance  of  Divine  worship  in 
it,"  and  proceeds  to  inform  them  that,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wills,  of  Wil- 
mington, he  had  dedicated  St.  Philip's  church 
on  Whit  Tuesda3^  "  Being  wholl}-  unac- 
quainted," he  sa3^s,  "with  a  proper  form  or 
mode  of  dedication,  I  wrote  to  several  clergy- 
men for  their  advice,  but  not  one  could  give 
the  least  information.     I  then  drew  up  a  form, 


2  20  A  Colonial  Officer 

which  was  approved  by  his  Excellency  and 
the  Council,  and,  indeed,  gave  an  universal 
satisfaction."  He  also  said  that  the  people  of 
the  parish  so  violently  opposed  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  Crown  to  the  Living  that  he  thought 
he  would  have  to  leave. 

On  the  2oth  September,  1761,  according  to 
the  Lojidoji  Magazine  for  December  of  that 
year,  a  fearful  hurricane  swept  the  coast,  last- 
ing from  ]\Ionday  the  20th  to  Friday  the  24th, 
but  raging  with  most  violence  on  Thursday 
the  23d.  "Many  houses,"  sa3's  the  account, 
"were  thrown  down,  and  all  the  vessels,  except 
one,  in  Cape  Fear  river  driven  on  shore.  It 
forced  open  a  new^  channel  for  that  river  at  a 
place  called  the  Haul-over,  between  the  Cedar 
House  and  the  Bald  Head.=='  This  new  chan- 
nel w^as  found  on  soundings  to  be  eighteen 
feet  deep  at  high  water,  and  is  near  half  a  mile 
wide." 

The  breach  thus  made  across  the  sand-strip 
between  the  ocean  and  the  river,  was  after- 
wards known  as  New  Inlet,  and  was — until 
recently  closed  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment— as  often  used  by  vessels  bound  to  and 

*Gov.  Dobbs  says  this  happened  on  the  22d.     Col.  Rec,  Vol. 
VI,  605. 


And  His  TimEvS.  221 

from  ^\^ihlli^g■to^  as  the  main  entrance  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  was  defended  during 
the  late  war  b\'  Fort  Fisher.  It  is  about  four 
miles  below  Brunswick,  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  which  is  about  two  miles  wide 
along  that  part  of  its  course.  There  seem  to 
have  been  two  places  called  the  Haul-over,  one 
opposite  Brunswick  where  Harnett's  Ferry 
was,  and  that  where  New  Inlet  broke  through. 
Harnett's  Ferry  was  certainly  not  between 
Brunswick  and  the  lower  one.  If  there  were 
not  two,  as  one  tradition  saj^s,  then  the  Lou- 
don Magazine  was  in  error  in  calling  the  place 
where  New  Inlet  was  the  Haul-over. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Lords  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  written  in  1761,  Governor  Dobbs,  an- 
swering a  question  as  to  the  trade  of  the  Prov- 
ince, says:  "No  foreign  trade  whatever  is 
carried  on  between  this  colou}^  and  any  foreign 
plantation,  except  with  Eustatia  and  St.  Croix, 
and  with  no  foreign  countries  in  Europe  except 
with  the  Madeiras  and  Azores,  and  with  the 
Canaries  for  wine^  salt  from  Portugal  not  being 
allowed  to  be  imported.  These  are  brought 
by  ships  from  Britain ;  nor  have  we  any  trade 
with  Ireland  upon  account  that  naval  stores, 
and  other  enumerated  commodities  are  pro- 
hibited, which  is  a  great  help  to  Britain  and 


22  2  A  Colonial   Officer 

this  colon3^  The  natural  produce  and  staple 
commodities  of  this  Province  (for  of  manufac- 
tures there  are  none)  consist  of  naval  stores, 
masts,  yards,  plank  and  ship  timber,  Indian 
corn,  pease,  rice,  and  of  late  flour,  hemp,  flax 
and  flax  seed,  tobacco,  bees  and  nij^tle  wax, 
and  some  indigo."  He  gives  the  number  of 
ships  annually  coming  to  the  port  of  Bruns- 
wick at  ninet}",  with  a  tonnage  of  four  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  thirty,  most  of  them 
being  small,  and  saA^s  that  at  that  time 
(1761)  there  were  only  about  fifty  ships 
owned  in  the  colony.  His  description  of 
the  navigation  of  the  Cape  Fear  shows  that 
the  depth  of  water  was  greater  than  it  ever 
was  afterwards,  until  the  closing  of  New  Inlet 
recently,  that  Inlet  not  having  broken  through, 
as  already  said,  until  2  2d  September,  1761. 
Upon  this  subject  he  sa3^s:  "But  the  chief 
river  for  navigation  and  trade  is  Cape  Fear 
river,  there  being  eighteen  feet  water  upon  the 
bar,  navigable  for  large  ships  above  Brunswick 
fifteen  miles  up  the  river  and  as  high  as  Wil- 
mington, after  passing  the  flats  upon  which 
there  is  about  eleven  or  twelve  feet  water 
(since  a  new  entrance  has  been  opened  by  a 
hurricane  on  the  2  2d  September  last  at  a  place 
called  the  Haul-over,  eight  or  ten  miles  above 


And  Hks  Timks.  223 

the  former  entrance),  and  is  navigable  for 
small  vessels  for  above  one  hnndred  miles 
farther  up  on  the  Northwest  branch,  and  above 
sixty  miles  hio-h?r  on  the  Northeast  branch, 
in  which  a  rapid  tide  flows  for  near  one  hnn- 
dred miles,  this  being  the  only  inlet  for  all  the 
Southern  and  Western  parts  of  this  Province." 

Governor  Dobbs  lived  in  Brnnswick,  and 
had  a  plantation  on  Town  Creek,  a  few  miles 
above  the  town,  where  he  was  buried.  Gov- 
ernor Trj'on  also  lived  there,  and  owned  two 
houses  in  the  town,  one  of  which  was  ap- 
proached by  a  fine  cedar  avenue,  and  was 
called  Russellboro :  it  was  bought  by  him  from 
Governor  Dobbs's  son,  and  was  the  residence 
formerU'  occupied  by  Dobbs.  It  contained 
fifty-five  acres,  and  was  adjoining  the  town  on 
the  North  side. 

The  town  was  again  visited  by.  a  hurri- 
cane on  the  7th  September,  1769,  which 
nearly  destroyed  it,  and  which  did,  on  the 
9th,  destroy  Newbern,  where  six  persons 
were  drowned.  In  truth,  the  whole  existence 
of  the  old  town  was  marked  by  storms,  natural 
and  political ;  and  nearly  a  centur}^  after  it 
had  ceased  to  exist,  and  when  the  silence  and 
solitude  which  had  so  long  enveloped  it  was 
broken  for  the  first  time,  it  was  by  the  engi- 


■224  A  Colonial  Officer 

neer's  pick  and  spade  in  the  constrnction  of  a 
military  work  for  use  in  a  civil  war. 

Immediately  North  of  Brunswick,  and  ad- 
joining the  tract  on  which  the  town  was  laid 
out,  is  the  celebrated  Orton  plantation,  which 
is  at  the  Southern  terminus  of  the  rice  lands 
of  the  Cape  Fear  river.  It  has  always  been 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  planta- 
tions in  that  part  of  the  State,  and  is  a  historic 
place.  Like  most  of  the  valuable  lands  on  or 
near  the  Cape  Fear,  it  was  originally  granted 
(i725)to  Colonel  Maurice  Moore,  and  was  first 
settled  by  his  brother  Roger,  commonl}^  called 
^'King  Roger,"  who  owned  immense  tracts  in 
that  part  of  the  country.  The  latter  was  also 
a  much-married  man.  One  of  his  wives  was 
Catharine  Rhett,  and  his  daughter  by  her  was 
the  mother  of  Governor  Benjamin  Smith. 

Governor  Smith  afterwards  owned  Orton, 
and  his  brother  James  owned  the  adjoining 
plantation,  "Kendall,"  which  had  also  be- 
longed to  King  Roger.  James  Smith  was  the 
father  of  the  late  Hon.  R.  Barnwell  Rhett  and 
liis  brothers,  who  took  the  name  of  Rhett  and 
moved  to  South  Carolina.  The  plantation 
next  to  Kendall  was  "Lilliput,"  which  was 
first  granted  (1725)  to  Hon.  Eleazar  Allen, 
Chief  Justice  of  North  Carolina,  who  died  in 
1738,  and   whose   tombstone,  and  that   of  his 


And  His  Tr:\rRS.  225 

wife,  is  still  in  a  good  state  of  preservation. 
Governor  Tryon  also  owned  Lillipnt  in  1768. 
King  Roger  and  his  family  are  bnried  at  Orion 
plantation  beneath  a  brick  monnd.  This 
sobriqnet  of  "King"  was  given  him  becanse 
of  the  state  in  which  he  lived,  and  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  had  controlled  the  Indians, 
whom  he  defeated  in  a  fight  at  the  "Sugar 
Loaf,"  a  place  on  the  East  side  of  the  river 
nearh'  opposite  to  Orton.  One  tradition  about 
him  is  that  he  was  a  might}'  hunter,  and  that 
not  long  before  his  death,  having  asked  his 
eldest  son  what  part  of  his  lands  he  would 
prefer  to  have,  the  son  replied  that  as  he  be- 
lieved there  were  "more  deer"  in  a  certain 
region  (mentioning  it),  he  would  prefer  that. 
Orton  has,  from  its  original  settlement  to 
this  day,  been  celebrated  as  the  best  hunting 
and  fishing  ground  in  all  the  lower  Cape  Fear 
countr}',  and  among  the  animals  once  hunted 
there,  but  which  have  since  disappeared, 
was  the  panther,  a  specimen  of  which  Gov- 
ernor Tryon  sent  from  Brunswick  on  the 
28th  March,  1767,  accompanied  b}^  the  follow- 
ing letter,  to  the  Earl  of  Sherburne : 

As  the  panther  of  this  continent,  I  am  told, 
has  never  been  imported  into  Europe,  and  as 


2  26  A  Colonial  Officer 

it  is  the  king  of  the  American  forests,  I  pre- 
sume to  send  a  male  panther  under  your 
Lordship's  patronage,  to  be  presented  for  his 
Majesty's  acceptance.  He  is  six  months  old; 
I  have  had  him  four  months;  b}- constantly 
handling  he  is  become  perfectly  tame  and 
familiar.  When  full  grown  his  coat  will  much 
resemble  that  of  the  lioness.  Panthers  have 
been  killed  (for  it  is  very  uncommon  to  catch 
them  alive)  ten  feet  in  length  from  the  nose  to 
the  end  of  the  tail.  I  am  ver\^  solicitous  for 
his  safe  arrival,  as  I  am  ambitious  that  he  may 
be  permitted  to  add  to  his  Majesty's  collection 
of  wild  beasts. 

The  Orton  tract  embraces  several  thousand 
acres  of  pine  lands  in  rear  of  the  rice  plantation, 
which  is  a  great  deer  walk,  and  includes 
a  very  large  pond  of  several  miles  in  length, 
which  is  filled  with  choice  fish — chiefl}-  black 
bass  and  the  finest  varieties  of  perch.  Part  of 
the  hunting  ground  and  part  of  the  pond  are 
really  attached  to  the  Kendall  tract,  but  they 
are  generally  spoken  of  as  belonging  to  Orton. 
For  more  than  a  hundred  3'ears  it  has  been  the 
resort  of  sportsmen  and  the  scene  of  unbounded 
hospitality.  Indeed,  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago  it  had  an  established  repu- 
tation for  generous  hospitality,  and  there  is  a 
record  in  existence,  dated  1734,  which   proves 


And  His  Times.  227 

it.  It  is  a  pamphlet  entitled  "A  New  Voyage 
to  Georgia,"  written  by  a  young  English  gen- 
tleman who  had  visited  the  Cape  Fear  settle- 
ment, and  gave  his  impressions  of  it.  It  is 
published  in  the  second  volume  of  the  "Georgia 
Historical  Collections,"  and,  as  it  describes 
several  interesting  localities,  a  full  extract  is 
here  given  from  it.  Coming  by  land,  with 
thirteen  others,  along  the  coast  from  vSouth 
Carolina,  this  traveller  says: 

We  left  Ivockwocd's  Folly  about  eight  the 
next  morning,  and  by  two  reached  the  town  of 
Brunswick,  which  is  the  chief  town  in  Cape 
Fear,  but  with  no  more  than  two  of  the  same 
horses  which  came  with  us  out  of  South  Caro- 
lina. We  dined  there  that  afternoon.  Mr. 
Roger  Moore,  hearing  w^e  had  come,  was  so 
kind  as  to  send  fresh  horses  for  us  to  come  up 
to  his  house,  which  we  did  and  were  kindly 
received  by  him,  he  being  the  chief  gentleman 
in  all  Cape  Fear.  His  house  is  built  of  brick, 
and  exceedingly  pleasantly  situated  about  two 
miles  from  the  town  and  about  half  a  mile 
from  the  river,  though  there  is  a  creek  comes 
close  up  to  the  door,  between  two  beautiful 
meadows  about  three  miles  length.  He  has  a 
prospect  of  the  town  of  Brunswick,  and  of 
another  beautiful  brick  house,  a  building  about 
half  a  mile  from  him,  belonging  to  Eleazer 
Allen,  Esq.,   late    Speaker    to    the    Commons 


2  28  A   Colonial  Officer 

House  of  Assembl}^  in  the  province  of  South 
Carolina. 

There  were  several  vessels  lying  before  the 
town  of  Brunswick,  but  I  shall  forbear  giving 
a  description  of  that  place;  yet,  on  the  20th  of 
June  we  left  Mr.  Roger  Moore's,  accompanied 
by  his  brother,  Nathaniel  Moore,  Esq.,  to  a 
plantation  of  his  up  the  Northwest  branch  of 
Cape  Fear  river.  The  river  is  wonderfuU}' 
pleasant,  being  next  to  Savannah,  the  finest 
on  all  the  continent. 

We  reached  the  Forks,  as  the3'  call  it,  that 
same  night,  where  the  river  divides  into  two 
ver}^  beautiful  branches  called  the  Northeast 
and  Northwest,  passing  by  several  pretty  plan- 
tations on  both  sides.  We  lodged  that  night 
at  one  Mr.  Jehu  Davis's,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing proceeded  up  the  Northwest  branch;  when 
we  got  about  two  miles  from  thence  we  came 
to  a  beautiful  plantation  belonging  to  Captain 
Gabriel,'"  who  is  a  great  merchant  there,  where 
were  two  ships,  two  sloops  and  a  brigantine 
loading  with  lumber  for  the  West  Indies:  it 
is  about  twenty-two  miles  from  the  bar.  When 
we  came  about  four  miles  higher  up  we  saw 
an  opening  on  the  Northwest  side  of  us  which 
is  called  Black  River,  on  which  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  very  good  meadow  land,  but  there  is 
not  au}^  one  settled  on  it. 

The  next  night  we  came  to  another  planta- 
tion belonging  to  Mr.  Roger  Moore,  called  the 

*This  name  was  Gabourell. 


And  His  Timk.s.  229 

Blue  Banks,  where  he  is  going-  to  build  another 
very  large  brick  house.  This  bluff  is  at  least 
one  hundred  feet  high,  and  has  a  beautiful 
prospect  over  a  fine,  large  meadow  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  river;  the  houses  are  all 
built  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  it  being  for 
the  most  part  high  champaign  land ;  the  other 
side  is  very  much  subject  to  overflow,  but  I 
cannot  learn  the}^  have  lost  but  one  crop.  I 
am  creditably  informed  they  have  very  com- 
monly four-score  bushels  of  corn  on  an  acre  of 
their  overflowed  land.  It  very  rarely  overflows 
but  in  the  winter  time  when  their  crop  is  off. 
I  must  confess  that  I  saw  the  finest  corn  grow- 
ing there  that  ever  I  saw  in  my  life,  as  like- 
wise wheat  and  hemp.  We  lodged  there  that 
night  at  one  Captain  Gibbs's,  adjoining  to  Mr. 
^loore's  plantation,  where  we  met  with  very 
ofood  entertainment.  The  next  mornino-  we 
left  his  house  and  proceeded  up  the  said  river 
to  a  plantation  belonging  to  Mr.  John  Davis, 
where  we  dined. 

The  plantations  on  this  river  are  all  very 
much  alike  as  to  the  situation;  but  there  are 
many  more  improvements  on  some  than  on 
others;  this  house  is  built  after  the  Dutch 
fashion,  and  made  to  front  both  ways  on  the 
river,  and  on  the  land  he  has  a  beautiful  ave- 
nue cut  through  the  woods  for  above  two  miles, 
which  is  a  great  addition  to  the  house.  We 
left  his  house  about  two  in  the  afternoon,  and 
the  same  evening  reached  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Moore's   plantation,  which    is   reckoned  forty 


230  A  Colonial  Officer 

miles  from  Brunswick.  It  is  likewise  a  ver}' 
pleasant  plantation  on  a  bluff  upwards  of  sixty 
feet  high. 

He  then  describes — after  saying  that  he  had 
"not  so  much  as  seen  one  foot  of  bad  land" 
since  leaving  Brunswick — a  trip  he  took  with 
IMr.  Aloore  and  others  to  Waccamaw  Lake, 
w^hich  he  said  he  had  heard  so  much  talk  of 
and  desired  very  much  to  see,  and  which,  after 
seeing,  he  pronounces  "the  pleasantest  place 
that  I  ever  saw  in  my  life."  The  number  of 
deer,  wild  turke^^s,  geese  and  ducks  greatly 
astonished  him,  and  he  said  they  shot  "suffi- 
cient to  serve  forty  men,  though  there  was  but 
six  of  us."  After  staying  a  night  at  Newton 
(now  Wilmington)  in  a  hut,  and  then  visiting 
Rocky  Point,  "which  is  the  finest  place  in  all 
Cape  Fear,"  where  he  was  entertained  b}^ 
Colonel  Maurice  Moore,  Captain  Hyrne,  John 
Swann,  Esq.,  and  others,  he  returned  to  Orton, 
and  the  next  day  left  the  Province  b}-  wa}"  of 
Ivockwood's  Folly,  in  regard  to  which  place  he 
records  a  sore  disappointment,  as  follows: 

About  two  I  arrived  there  with  much  diffi- 
culty, it  being  a  very  hot  daj^  and  myself  very 
faint  and  weak,  when  I  called  for  a  dram,  and, 
to  my  great  sorrow,  found  not  one  drop  of 
rum,  sugar  or  lime  juice  in  the  house  (a  pretty 


And  Hls  Timks.  231 

place  to  sta}^  all  night  indeed),  so  was  obliged 
tx)  make  nse  of  my  own  bottle  of  shrub,  which 
made  me  resolve  never  to  trust  the  conntrv 
again  in  a  long  journey. 

It  thus  appears  that  as  earl}^  as  1734  there 
were  comfortable  and  even  elegant  residences 
all  along  both  branches  of  the  Cape  Fear  for 
forty  or  fifty  miles  above  Brunswick,  and  these 
w^ere  multiplied  continuall}^  afterwards.  A 
handsome  brick  building,  such  as  this  traveller 
found  at  Orton,  was  a  great  rarity  at  that  earl 3- 
period,  and  necessarily  a  ver}-  costly  one,  as 
all  the  bricks  were  brought  from  Eugland.  It 
was  an  expensive  investment  in  which  none 
but  rich  men  could  possibl}^  indulge.  The 
status  of  the  men  who  owned  those  on  Cape 
Fear  has  been  well  described  b}-  one'"  whose 
unequalled  knowdedge  of  the  "old  times  and 
men''  of  that  region  well  cpialified  him  for  the 
task,  and  his  description  is  here  transcribed: 

They  were  no  needy  adventurers,  driven  by 
necessity — no  unlettered  boors  ill  at  ease  in 
the  haunts  of  civilization,  and  seeking  their 
proper  sphere  amidst  the  barbarism  of  the 
savages.  The}'  were  gentlemen  of  birth  and 
education,  bred  in  the  refinements  of  polished 
society,  and   bringing  with   them   ample  for- 

*Hon.  George  Davis.  Chapel  Hill  Address,  1S55. 


232  A  Colonial  Officer 

tunes,  gentle  manners,  and  cultivated  minds. 
Alost  of  them  united  b}-  the  ties  of  blood,  and 
all  b}^  those  of  friendship,  the\'  came  as  one 
household  sufficient  unto  themselves,  and 
reared  their  famih^  altars  in  love  and  peace. 
:•:  :i:  jf  histor}'  imuiortalizes  those  who,  with 
the  cannon  and  the  bayonet,  through  blood 
and  carnage,  establish  a  d\'nast\'  or  found  a 
state,  sureU^  something  more  than  mere  ob- 
livion is  due  to  those  who,  forsaking  all  that 
is  attractive  to  the  civilized  mind,  lead  a  colon^^ 
and  plant  it  successfull}-  in  harmou}'  and 
peace,  amid  the  dangers  of  the  wilderness  and 
under  the  war-whoop  of  the  savage. 

It  was  long  after  the  stranger's  visit  in  1734, 
and  after  the  death  of  these  first  settlers  that 
the  events  which  made  Brunswick  famous 
occurred,  but  the  same  characteristics  marked 
their  successors,  who,  as  long  as  the  old  town 
lasted,  maintained  the  reputation  of  the  com- 
munity for  a  refined  and  generous  hospitality. 

Memorable  for  some  of  the  most  dramatic 
scenes  in  the  early  history  of  North  Carolina 
as  the  region  around  Brunswick  was — being 
the  theatre  of  the  first  open  armed  resistance 
to  the  Stamp  Act  on  the  28th  November,  1765, 
and  not  far  from  the  spot  where  the  first  vic- 
tory of  the  Revolution  crowned  the  American 
arms   at  Moore's   Creek   Bridge   on   the  27th 


And  His  Timp:s.  233 

Febriiaiy,  1776 — its  historic  interest  was  per- 
petuated when,  nearly  a  century  afterwards, 
its  tall  pines  trembled  and  its  sand-hills  shook 
to  the  thunder  of  the  most  terrific  artillery  fire 
that  has  ever  occurred  since  the  invention  of 
gunpowder,  when  Fort  Fisher  was  captured 
in  1S65.  Since  then  it  has  again  relapsed 
into  its  former  state,  and  the  bastions  and 
traverses  and  parapets  of  the  whilom  Fort 
Anderson  are  now  clad  in  the  same  exuberant 
robe  of  green  with  which  generous  nature  in 
that  clime  covers  every  neglected  spot.  And 
so  the  old  and  the  new  ruin  stand  side  by  side 
in  mute  attestation  of  the  utter  emptiness  of 
all  human  ambition,  while  the  Atlantic  breeze 
sings  gently  amid  the  sighing  pines,  and  the 
vines  cling  more  closel}^  to  the  old  church 
wall,  and  the  lizard  basks  himself  where  the 
sunlight  falls  on  a  forgotten  grave. 


16 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  correspondence  between  Gov- 
ernor Martin,  Captain  Parry  and  the  people, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  American  Revolution, 
is  copied  from  the  original  documents  recently 
procured  by  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Raleigh 
from  England.  It  occurred,  as  the  date  shows, 
on  the  very  day  of  the  battle  of  Moore's  Creek 
Bridge,  27th  February,  1776,  but  probably 
before  intelligence  of  that  event  reached  Wil- 
mington. Cornelius  Harnett  was  almost 
certainly  the  author  of  the  letters  on  behalf  of 
the  people,  and  the  calm  courage  which  char- 
acterizes them,  displayed  as  it  was  in  the  face 
of  a  threat  to  destroy  the  town,  will  send  a 
thrill  of  admiration  through  every  generous 
soul  who  reads  them : 

To  the  Magistrates  and  Inliabitants 

of  the  Town  of  Wilmington  : 

It  is  expected  and  hereby  required  that  the 
Inhabitants  of  the  Town  of  Wilmington  do 
furnish  for  his  Majestie's  service  One  Thou- 
sand barrels  of  good  flour  on  or  before  Satur- 
day next,  being  the  second  day  of  March, 
which  will  be  paid  for  at  Market  price. 

Jo.  Martin. 
Cruizer  Sloop  of  War, 

Off  W^ilmington,  Feb.  27th,  1776. 


236  appendix. 

Cruizer,  Wilmington  River, 

Feb'y  2jih,  1776. 

His  Majestie's  ships  not  having  received 
provisions  agreeable  to  their  regular  Demands, 

I  shall,  as  soon  as  possible,  be  off  Wilming- 
ton with  his  Majestie's  sloop  Cruizer,  and 
other  armed  vessels  under  my  command  to 
know  the  reason  of  their  not  being  supplied. 

I  expect  to  be  supplied  by  six  this  Evening 
with  the  provisions  I  have  now  demanded  of 
the  contractor. 

If  his  Majestie's  ships  or  Boats  are  in  the 
least  annoyed  it  will  be  my  duty  to  oppose  it. 

Fran'vS  Parry. 

To  the  Magistrates  and  Inhabitants   of  Wil- 
mington. 


The  Inhabitants  of  Wilmington,  by  their 
representatives  in  Committee,  in  answer  to 
your  Kxcellencie's  demand  of  One  Thousand 
Barrels  of  flour  for  his  Majestie's  service,  beg 
leave  to  assure  your  Excellency  that  they  have 
been  always  most  cordially  disposed  to  promote 
his  Majestie's  real  service,  which  the^-  think 
consistent  only  with  the  good  of  the  whole 
British  empire.  But  the  inhabitants  are  aston- 
ished at  the  quantum  of  your  Kxcellencie's 
requisition,  as  they  cannot  conceive  what  ser- 
vice his  IMajesty  has  in  this  part  of  the  world 
for  so  much  flour.  In  the  most  quiet  and 
peaceable  Times,  when  the  Ports  were  open 
and  Trade  flourished,  it  would  have  been  im- 


APPENDIX.  237 

possible  to  procure  such  a  quantit}-  in  the 
Town  in  so  short  a  time  as  your  Excellency 
mentions.  How  then  can  3'our  Excellency 
expect  a  compliance  from  the  Inliabitants  of 
Wilmington  during  the  present  stagnation  of 
Commerce?  At  a  time,  too,  when  ^^ou  well 
know  that  an  arni}^  raised  and  commissioned 
by  your  Excellency  hath  been  for  some  time 
possessed  of  Cross  Creek  and  the  adjacent 
country  from  whence  only  we  can  expect  the 
Article  ^^ou  have  thought  to  Demand. 

We  can  wntli  Truth  assure  your  Excellency 
that  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  comply  with 
your  requisition,  either  in  whole  or  in  part, 
many  of  the  Inhabitants  having  for  some  time 
passed  wanted  flour  for  private  use,  and  the 
dread  of  Militar\'  Execution  by  the  ships  of 
War  hath  induced  most  of  the  Inhabitants  to 
remove  their  effects.  The  Inhabitants,  Sir, 
sincerely  wish  they  had  not  reason  to  expect 
that  your  Excellency's  Demand  is  onl}-  a  pre- 
lude to  the  intended  destruction  of  the  devoted 
Town  of  Wilmington. 

If  this  should  be  the  case,  it  will  not,  how- 
ever, make  any  alteration  in  their  determina- 
tion. It  will  be  their  dut}^  to  defend  their 
propert}'  to  the  utmost,  and  if  they  do  not  suc- 
ceed altogether  to  their  wish,  they  have  one 
consolation  left,  that  tlieir  friends  wnll,  in  a 
few  days,  have  it  in  their  power  to  make  ample 
retribution  upon  those  whom  your  Excellence- 
thinks  proper  to  dignify  with  the  epithets  of 
friends  to   Government.     These  faithless  and 


238  APPENDIX. 

selfish  people  are  now  surrounded  by  three 
armies  above  four  times  their  Number,  and 
the  Town  of  Cross  Creek,  now  in  our  hands, 
will  make  some,  tho'  a  very  inadequate  com- 
pensation for  the  destruction  of  Wilmington. 
This,  Sir,  is  no  boast,  and  we  would  not  treat 
your  Excellenc}^  with  so  much  disrespect  as 
to  make  use  of  Threats.  The  Acco't  we  have 
given  3'ou  is  sacredly  true,  and  we  have  the 
most  convincing  proof  of  it  in  our  possession. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  by  order  of  the  Com- 
mittee, 

Sir,  Your  Hxcellencj^'s  most  Obt  Serv't. 


Wilmington,  27th  Feb'y,  1776. 
Sir: 

The  reasons  why  his  Majestie's  ships  have 
not  been  supplied  with  the  usual  quantity  of 
provisions  is  so  obvious  that  it  cannot  possibly 
have  escaped  the  sagacity  of  Captain  Parry. 
The  trade  of  this  colony  hath  been  distressed 
by  the  King's  ships,  even  contrary"  to  the  Acts 
of  the  British  Parliament.  The  Military  stores, 
the  property  of  the  People,  have  been  seized 
with  an  avowed  Intention  to  subjugate  them 
to  slavery.  The  fort  which  the  People  had 
built  at  a  great  Expence  for  the  protection  of 
their  Trade  made  use  of  for  a  purpose  the  very 
reverse,  and  when  they  attempted  to  demolish 
it  they  have  been  fired  upon  by  the  ships  of 
war. 

The  slaves  of  the  American  Inhabitants  have 
been   pursued   and  many  of  them    seized  and 


APPENDIX.  239 

inveitrled  from  their  duty,  and  their  live  stock 
and  other  property  killed  and  plundered,  long 
before  the  Committee  thought  it  necessary  to 
deny  the  ships  a  supply  of  provisions;  and  to 
CroWn  all  you.  Sir,  for  the  Second  Time  have 
brought  up  the  Cruizer  and  several  Armed 
Vessels  to  cover  the  landing  of  an  army  Com- 
posed of  highland  banditti,  most  of  whom  are 
as  destitute  of  Property  as  they  are  of  Princi- 
ple, and  none  of  whom  you  will  ever  see,  unless 
as  fugitives  imploring  protection. 

Tho'  you  should  come  up  before  the  Town 
you  cannot  expect  any  other  answer  than  what 
we  now  give  you. 

We  have  not  the  least  intention  of  opposnig 
either  your  ships  or  Boats,  unless  you  should 
attempt  to  injure  us,  and  whenever  you  may 
think  proper  to  treat  the  Inhabitants  as  his 
Majestie's  officers  did  heretofore,  we  shall  be 
happy  to  receive  you  in  the  manner  which  we 
always  wish  to  receive  those  who  have  the 
honor  to  bear  His  Majestie's  commission. 

I  am,  by  Order  of  the  Committee, 

Sir,  Your  Obt  Servt. 

To  Capt.  Parry. 


To  the  Magistrates  and  Inhabitants 

of  the  Town  of  Wilmington : 

I  have  been  much  surprised  to  receive  an 
answer  to  my  requisition  directed  to  The 
Magistrates  and  Inhabitants  of  Wilmington, 
from  a  member  of  the  lawfull  Magistracy  m 


240  APPENDIX. 

the  name  and  under  the  Traitorous  Guize  of  a 
Combination  unknown  to  the  laws  and  Con- 
stitution of  this  Country,  as  if  the  Magistrates 
and  Inhabitants  of  Wilmington  chose  rather 
to  appear  in  the  Garb  of  Rebellion  than  in  the 
character  of  his  Majestie's  lo3'al  and  faithful 
subjects. 

The  quantity  of  flour  that  I  required  for  his 
Majestie's  service,  I  concluded,  from  the  in- 
formation I  had  received,  that  the  Town  of 
Wilmington  might  have  well  supplied  within 
the  Time  I  appointed  by  my  Note,  and  I  should 
have  been  contented  with  the  quantit}^  that 
was  obtainable.  The  requisition  was  not  made, 
as  the  answer  to  it  imports,  for  a  prelude  to 
the  destruction  of  that  Town,  which  has  not 
been  in  contemplation,  but  was  intended  as  a 
Test  of  the  disposition  of  the  Inhabitants, 
whose  sence,  I  am  unwilling  to  believe,  is 
known  to  the  little  arbitrary  Junto  (stiling 
itself  a  Committee)  which  has  presumed  to 
answer  for  the  People  in  this  and  other  In- 
stances. 

The  revilings  of  Rebellion  and  the  Gascon- 
adings  of  Rebels  are  below  the  contempt  of  the 
loyal  and  faithful  People  whom  I  have  most 
justly  stiled  Friends  of  Government,  and  the 
forbearance  of  menaces  I  have  little  reason  to 
consider  as  a  mark  of  Respect  from  the  Chair- 
man of  a  Combination  founded  in  usurpation 
and  Rebellion. 

Jo.  Martin. 


APPHNDIX.  241 

Sir, 

The  Committee  of  Wilmington  have  not 
only  been  chosen  b}^  the  people,  bnt  on  the 
present  occasion  these  very  people  (consisting 
of  the  freeholders)  have  been  consulted  on  the 
propriety-  of  their  answer.  That  Committees 
are  unknown  to  the  Constitution,  let  those  who 
have  driven  the  people  to  that  dreadfull  neces- 
sit}^  account  for. 

I  mav  venture  to  assure  your  Hxcellenc}' 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  People  in  arms 
against  the  Inhabitants  of  this  country  are,  in 
the  opinion  of  every  gentleman  and  man  of 
understanding,  unworthy  to  be  considered  as 
respectable  members  of  Society.  That  there 
mav  be  some  of  them  of  a  better  sort  embarked 
in  a  cause  which,  right  or  wrong,  does  them 
little  honor,  is  a  Circumstance  for  which  it  is 
easy  to  account. 

The  Inhabitants  of  this  Town  are  extremely 
pleased  to  find  that  his  Majestie's  service  is 
not  in  an}'  immediate  want  of  the  flour  which 
your  Excellenc}-  thought  proper  to  require,  as 
it  is  impossible  for  them  to  comply  even  in 
part.  Whoever  was  your  Excellencie's  inform- 
ant that  the  Town  of  Wilmington  could  now, 
or  at  any  other  period,  procure  so  large  a  quan- 
tity in  so  short  a  time,  has  grossly  deceived 
3^0  u. 

The  conduct  of  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Town 
is  well  known  to  your  Excellency,  and  you 
might  have  been  long  since  assured  that  there 
did  not  want  any  new   Proof  of  their  zeal   for 


242  APPENDIX. 

his  Majestie's  service  on  the  one  hand,  or  a 
firm  attachment  to  their  Liberties  on  the  other. 
And  whilst  they  are  conscions  of  no  Acts  bnt 
those  which  tended  to  assert  the  rights  of  God 
and  natnre,  they  have  reason  to  believe  that 
they  do  not  deserve  the  epithets  of  rebels  and 
traitors  with  which  yonr  Excellency  hath  so 
liberally  loaded  them. 

Time  alone  mnst  convince  3'onr  Excellency 
that  the  committee  cannot,  for  any  interested 
purposes,  descend  to  convc}^  an  untruth  which 
candor  would  be  ashamed  of 


To  the  Magistrates  and   Inhabitants  of  Wil- 
mington. 

As  I  am  informed  it  is  inconvenient  to  sup- 
ply his  Majestie's  Sloop  Cruizer  with  salt 
provisions,  must  beg  you  will  send  a  few  quar- 
ters of  good  beef. 

Fran's  Parry. 
Cruizer,  Wilmington  River, 

Feb'y  28th,  1776. 


